REDP schemes helping poor

BY A STAFF REPORTER

Kathmandu, Mar. 11: The Rural Energy Development Programme (REDP) has made significant contribution in meeting the energy needs of the rural areas. Initiated in 1996 with the joint initiative of UNDP and the HMG in developing the rural energy system in fifteen districts, the programme has completed 45 micro-hydel projects generating 676 KW of electricty.

Forty four other micro-hydel projects with total power output of 728 KW are currently under construction. The programme has also supported for the installation of other energy-related activities such as 905 solar system, 501 bio-gas plants and about 4,000 improved cooking stoves.

By the end of 2001, 80 schemes supported by REDP will be completed in 15 districts with a total generating capacity of 1,400. This will increase the total electricity generated by micro-hydel plants in Nepal by more than one third, making electricity accessible to about 70,000 more people in the rural areas.

Presently, only about 50,000 people in the rural areas have access to electricity.

According to Satish Sharma, Energy Advisor to the Programme, the programme also emphasises on the sustainability of the projects by running various income-generating activities like poultry, pig and goat rearing, off-season vegetables, thanka painting, incense and soap making, saw mill, bakery and photo studio. So, far Rs. 16.9 million have been mobilized for such activities. The programme has also conducted training micro-hydel operation, community mobilisation, awareness generation, repair and maintenance to make the hydel projects sustainable.

For its out-reaching and sustainable approach the Rural Energy Development Programme was awarded the Globe Energy Award 2000 under the Public Investment category. Even the programme has been reviewed and replicated internationally.

According to Kiran Man Singh, National Programme Manager, the focus for 2001 workplan of the programme will be upscaling for the internationalization of best prace of REDP to help develop and enact the policy and strategy of developing appropriate institutions and operational guidelines on the rural energy sector development as envisaged in the Ninth Plan.

Dr. Henning Karcher, the Resident Representative of the UNDP, says the overriding goal of the REDP is to increase the level of energy services to the poor women and men in the villages through development of a range of technology including micro-hydro, solar, biogas and improved cooking stoves.

He said the programme is based on holistic approach to rural development, a decentralized mode of technology transfer and a wide-scale of social mobilization and community participation. "Sustainability is the key to REDP interventions," says Dr. Karcher.

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