GUWAHATI: IIT Bombay has facilitated 15,000 students from Assam to become “student solar ambassadors” under the SoULS (Solar Urja through Localisation for Sustainability) programme.
As part of the initiative led by Prof. Chetan S. Solanki, students from 39 schools across nine districts of the state were trained in assembling solar lamps which they would be using for studies.
The districts covered under the project are Kamrup Metro, Darrang, Tinsukia, Majuli, Lakhimpur, Sonitpur, Barpetta, Nalbari and Bongaigaon.
Over 125,000 students of Class VIII to XII from more than 850 schools across the country took a pledge to protect the environment by participating in the Solar Student Ambassador (SSA) workshop.
The students, spread across the country, were trained on solar lamp assembly by over 1500 trainers across 823 training centres.
The event also saw the presence of differently-abled children.
The programme was organised jointly by Ministry of Non Renewable Energy along with IIT Bombay, State Rural Livelihood Missions (SRLM), SoULS and Techfest, IIT Bombay.
The event forms a part of the SoULS objective of generating awareness on clean energy among the young generation and making them the leaders of tomorrow who will advocate clean energy use for a sustainable planet.
“It was a world record event with over 1.25 lakh students across the country and 5,700 students at IIT Bombay gathered together to create their solar lamps. Children at this workshop learnt skills on lamp assembly and solar energy who will in turn educate the society. It was an effort to appreciate their creative faculties, which can also help them adopt a clean energy mindset,” Solanki said.