Does technology justice lead to gender justice? Insights from solar PV mini grids in Chhattisgarh, India

Mini Govindan

gmini@teri.res.in

EFEWEE (2015-2018) Exploring Factors that Enhance and restrict Women’s Empowerment through Electrification

Kenya, India and Nepal Mixed methods

Background

Gendered impacts

The role of policies, regulations and international actors

The gendered organisation of supply and process of implementation

The socio-technical design of the system of supply (intervention)

The material and socio-cultural context

Research framework 4 conditional factors

Dimension Sub-dimensions

Empowerment 1

Overarching issues

Women and men’s rights Gender ideologies and norms

Social positions

Empowerment 2

Resources

Material short -term opportunities

Material long-term endowments Social resources Human resources

Empowerment 3

Agency

Influence over life decisions

Influence over everyday decisions

Negative effects of intervention

Negative impacts of electrification

Agency in the realm of the intervention (electricity)

Influence over decisions regarding household electricity access

Involvement in and influence over system of supply

Case study - Chhattisgarh Study area – Mohda and Rawan

(forest fringe villages)

• Under Remote Village Electrification Programme of the Government of India, solar PV mini grids are undertaken in remote forested areas to provide electricity

• Electricity for basic services

like lighting (most houses have 2 lights), mobile charging and some entertainment

– Power plants of 6kWp and 7 kWp capacities

But remains sensitive to the socio-cultural context and the institutional frameworks under which they are executed

By design, the technology is gender neutral and is expected to benefit both men and women equally through electrification

User perspective – Benefits - actual or perceived?

• Better illumination • Light in the kitchen

– Women could decide • Mobile - owned by

men – Accessible to the

women in the household

• Increased safety and security

• Entertainment • Convenience

• Health – smoke free kitchen

• Education – Children get more

time to study

Feel good factor

What factors affect Gender justice and equality ?

• Undoubtedly, the off-grid electricity, which in these villages is reliable and affordable, has provided women a most important critical resource - 'extra time'

• How do we link the 'extra time' and benefits of energy access the larger issues of gender justice and equality such as freedom to pursue livelihood opportunities or gaining increased power to make decisions?

• Does access to light and using mobiles affect women's access to information and communicate outside of the community and also their role in local village politics?

To put it simply: how will the provision of electricity for basic services change gender relations in the household and beyond?

State perspective • Energy access program

– Reality

– Household - access to light and mobile charging facility • Opportunities beyond lighting? • Scope for productive employment?

– Beyond household lighting? • Impact on the quality of public services (Schools, health clinics,

Water supply (drinking water, irrigation) – Involvement of community in the supply

chain/implementation

A deeper look… • PV mini grids - not designed to

offer scope for any major electricity driven enterprise or business opportunities, neither was there a scope for appliance penetration – Petty shops/grocery shops operating

from households continued to be the only business activities and the operating hours have remained the same as before electrification (from 8am to 6pm)

– Electricity did not have a bearing on the business profit although it provided better illumination

• Did not offer women any business opportunities to augment family income or empower them economically

A deeper look • School

– Electricity - Lights, fan, projector • No facility for computers/science

labs etc. (lack of funds) • No visible improvement in

performance – Presence of electricity either at

school or the few extra hours the children get to study at home has not necessarily translated into increased learning outcomes

– Not many boys and girls pursued higher education. Intention is to educate the girls till they attain the legally marriageable age of 18 years

• Enrolment – more number of girls are not enrolled due to the electricity

A deeper look… • Primary health centres

– Electricity - Lights, fan, weighing machine

• No facility for X ray machine/incubator/ Operation theatre

• Did not have sufficient doctors or health care providers

• Women preferred consulting Mitanin (health care workers) rather than going to health centres

• Giving only electricity supply to an infrastructure does not necessarily have an impact on the patient influx

A deeper look… • Implementation

– Policy provision - for organising training programmes, for involving the community as operators or forming a Village Electricity Committee

• But - Technicians, supervisors and helpers were employed by the State , neither men nor women involved in any of these jobs

• Person (man) who gave land for setting up the plant was made the operator – Women did not own or inherit any land

• Social and cultural barriers – Women also not keen to take up jobs like electrician, ‘line man’ , meter

readers etc. since it involved travelling to many villages • Culturally and socially not acceptable

– Even within the electricity board though the law provided for equal employment opportunities, women were engaged in administrative division

– women qualified as engineers and technicians preferred desk jobs and looked for postings in urban or peri-urban areas

• Difficulty in managing household responsibilities and balancing family life, difficulty in commuting to sites constrained women

Society in transition

• Egalitarian – condemned practices like dowry, did not observe purdah, lower son preference etc. – Women did not own any major resources like

agricultural land or houses and did not have any major decision making power regarding the use or sale of landed properties

– Poor political participation • Level of engagement and influence varied between

female and male members

– While the technology has facilitated

enhanced living conditions, it has not necessarily and explicitly led to gender equality and justice in societies which are inherently isolated from mainstream development

Updates • International Webinar: What does women’s

empowerment mean in the quest for universal electricity access? – 26th September

• http://www.teriin.org/webinars/universal-electricity-access.php

• Events, News, Blogs & Publications – http://www.efewee.org/partner.php

Thank You !!

gmini@teri.res.in

• Good schools • Higher education - schools are far • Market • Road • Infrastructure • Health