US girl lights up lives in Delhi

A 14 year-old girl from America has raised Rs 1.4 lakh through crowd-funding to distribute energy efficient bulbs to underprivileged sections in India.

Meera Vashisht, a girl of Indian origin living in Houston, who learnt about India’s ‘Unnat Jyoti by Affordable LEDs for all’ (UJALA) programme while working on her 7th class science project, collected $ 2,079.51 with the help of her parents reaching out to 500 people in her vicinity in Houston, Texas (US).

She purchased LED bulbs from the Energy Efficiency Services Ltd (EESL), the implementing agency for UJALA, and distributed them to residents of JJ clusters in Keshavpuram in New Delhi on Wednesday, it added.

Six hundred families will benefit from the 1,800 LED bulbs bought from the funds collected by Vashisht. “LED bulbs use less than half the energy of an incandescent bulb and runs for over 7-8 years. I am very happy to have been able to carry out the distribution of LED bulbs and hope to inspire young minds across the globe for working towards energy efficiency,” she said.

Project Manager of UJALA scheme in Delhi, Jitender Kohli, said: “It is inspiring to see the young generation taking lead in conserving the environment.”

The UJALA programme, has already distributed 12.60 crore LED bulbs across India, which is leading to a daily energy savings of about 4.48 crore kWh and resulting in avoidance of about 3,278 MW of peak demand, he added.