Fear kills dreams: Kamal exhorts VIT students
In his address Kamal said, 'We rarely speak of the freedom to fail, without which, no innovation is possible.' He added, 'In India, failure, too, is often treated like a life sentence, and that fear kills more dreams than poverty will ever,' he said.
VIT Founder and Chancellor G Viswanathan said he strongly believes that only education, can make India a developed country. Institute's vice president GV Selvam urged students to become entrepreneurs and provide jobs to others.
Vice Chancellor of VIT VS Kanchana Bhaaskaran, Pro vice chancellor T Thyagarajan, director of VIT Chennai K Sathiyanarayanan, additional registrar, VIT Chennai, PKManoharan, and president of Institutional Chennai Chapter, VITAA Manojkumar Rajagopal, also took part.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
7 hours ago
- Time of India
Left in the dark: Western UP's migrant workers lose light, faith with unmaintained solar panels
Aligarh/Bulandshahr: In a dusty brick kiln colony on the outskirts of Aligarh , 32-year-old migrant worker Kamal Singh stands beside a lifeless solar panel mounted on his hut. Independence Day 2025 Modi signals new push for tech independence with local chips Before Trump, British used tariffs to kill Indian textile Bank of Azad Hind: When Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose gave India its own currency "Yeh toh roshni ka sahara tha. Par ab pehle jaise nahi chalta. (This was our source of light. But now it doesn't work like before," he said. Once a symbol of self-reliance that lit up his hut and powered a fan through scorching summers, the panel is now coated in grime, barely functioning -- a casualty of lack of maintenance, guidance and rising air pollution. As India expands its renewable energy footprint, stories like Kamal have revealed a troubling gap between solar adoption and solar maintenance. Many migrant workers across the dusty interiors of western Uttar Pradesh -- Hathras, Bulandshahr, Aligarh -- embraced solar as a lifeline to meet their energy needs but are now finding themselves disillusioned. Live Events Some even pooled money to install small solar panels on their huts using their savings from months of labour under the sun and for a while, it even worked: two bulbs lit up their rooms, a fan offered respite from the heat, and mobile phones stayed charged. But today, the lights flicker weakly and the fan barely moves. "We don't know what went wrong. When we took it to the shop, they said dust had accumulated on it. Then we cleaned it properly with a cloth, but it's still not working like before," said Kamal's wife, Rashmi. Neeraj Jain , director at Solar Square, an Indian company focused on residential solar energy solutions, pointed out that cleaning must be done gently and correctly. "Leaning or scrubbing too hard can cause micro-cracks or damage the anti-reflective coating, which significantly reduces the panel's lifespan," he cautioned. But this knowledge hasn't reached the brick kiln workers of western Uttar Pradesh, who often rely on second-hand information or trial-and-error methods. With little formal training and no local technicians to guide them, families clean panels with the same cloth and phenyl solution they use to mop floors or dust it the way they do dusting at home. Some lean directly on the glass surface while scrubbing, unaware they may be damaging the very panels they depend on for electricity. In these informal settlements, where electricity theft, outages, and diesel costs once made solar seem like a breakthrough, the lack of aftercare and support has quickly turned innovation into frustration. "I saved Rs 3,000 on electricity last year. But now, the panel stopped working properly. No one ever told us how to take care of it," said Kishore Kumar, a migrant construction worker in Nanau village. Others tell similar stories. "We bought it thinking it would help during nights as we were either dependent on oil lamps or pilfering electricity, but it became more headache than help," said Sangeeta, who migrated from Bihar's Gaya to work in a brick kiln in Nanau village of Uttar Pradesh's Aligarh district. Experts agree that while solar systems are marketed as low-maintenance, they are not maintenance-free. "Within 90 days, performance drops by up to 35 per cent if not cleaned," said Jain. "In rural, off-grid areas, the panels often face poor air quality, dust, bird droppings, and no guidance on upkeep. After a year or two, many just abandon them," he added. Shopkeepers in surrounding areas like Pilakhana and Bijauli also report declining use. "Earlier, families came to us to buy DC fans and LED bulbs for their solar setups," said Virendra Singh , who owns a shop in Pilakhana. "Now some of them come asking for kerosene lamps again." The problem isn't the technology but the lack of education and support. Like Jain said that solar panels do not need complicated maintenance. "But users must know not to rub too hard, not to use saltwater, and to avoid leaning on them. Even small cracks or residue can ruin them," Jain said. When PTI reached out to the shops selling solar panels, the shopkeepers said that they themselves are not sure how to ensure effective maintenance and just tell the people to wipe it properly with wet and dry cloth. "Like we do dusting at home," said a shopkeeper in Bulandshahr. Air pollution is further making the situation worse. "In Delhi and surrounding regions, performance falls by at least 15' 20% during peak pollution. And this isn't just about fog'¦it's the dust, the particulates, everything in the air that blocks sunlight," said Jain. Researchers at IIT Delhi's Centre for Atmospheric Sciences (2001- 2018) found that particulate pollution reduces direct sunlight radiation (called atmospheric attenuation) and causes soiling (i.e. particle deposition). As a result, solar panel efficiency in India declines by approximately 12 per cent for fixed panels and up to 41 per cent for dual-axis tracking systems. In the eastern and northern power grids, reductions in received sunlight range from 12- 16 per cent. For families relying on solar for basic needs -- charging a phone, running a light or fan -- such a drop makes a system nearly unusable. Indrajit Singh, Managing Director of the Uttar Pradesh New and Renewable Energy Development Agency (UPNEDA), acknowledged the issue. "We've focused on expanding solar access, but now we are scaling up training and 30,000 Surya Mitras are being trained in UP for installation and maintenance," he said. "We've also started pilot programs with women's self-help groups in rural areas to take on local repair and upkeep," he said. So far, over 5,000 individuals have been trained and 3,000 vendors registered, according to Singh. But such programs are yet to reach the migrant belts of western UP in any meaningful way. India is home to over 450 million internal migrants, according to the 2011 Census, with current estimates by independent researchers suggesting the number could now exceed 600 million, as many move in search of work, education, or better living conditions. Among them, Uttar Pradesh is both a major sending and receiving state, with millions of migrant workers moving seasonally between states like Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh , and Maharashtra. For these workers, access to reliable and affordable energy is not a luxury -- it is essential for their empowerment, said Nirmal Gorana, convenor of the National Campaign Committee for the Eradication of Bonded Labour, who has extensively documented labour conditions in kilns. But without basic maintenance support, even this modest progress begins to unravel. "We turned to solar with hope and invested our hard-earned savings in it. To buy this panel, we made sacrifices' whether it meant cutting back on better food, medicine, or even sending money home. So when the panel stops working, it isn't just a financial loss' it shatters our trust in the system," said Kamal. (This content was developed and produced under an arrangement with Internews' Earth Journalism Network).
New Indian Express
12 hours ago
- New Indian Express
Centre should spend more on education: VIT founder
VELLORE: Highlighting the long-standing demand to allocate 6% of the country's GDP to education, the founder and chancellor of Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT) Dr G Viswanathan, said that the central government should spend more on education, noting that only 3% is currently spent. He was speaking at the 40th convocation of the institute on Saturday. 'In the 2025-26 budget, the central government allocated only 2.5% of its Rs 55 lakh crore budget for education. With 4.3 crore students currently enrolled in higher education in India, the new education policy aims to achieve a 50 % gross enrolment ratio, requiring the student count to rise to 8 crore. This requires more classrooms, infrastructure and funding,' he said.
New Indian Express
2 days ago
- New Indian Express
Fear kills dreams: Kamal exhorts VIT students
CHENNAI: Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT), Chennai, presented the alumni excellence awards to its alumni during the Crystal Connexions Alumni Meet conducted on Friday. Actor and Rajya Sabha MP Kamal Haasan was the chief guest in the function. In his address Kamal said, 'We rarely speak of the freedom to fail, without which, no innovation is possible.' He added, 'In India, failure, too, is often treated like a life sentence, and that fear kills more dreams than poverty will ever,' he said. VIT Founder and Chancellor G Viswanathan said he strongly believes that only education, can make India a developed country. Institute's vice president GV Selvam urged students to become entrepreneurs and provide jobs to others. Vice Chancellor of VIT VS Kanchana Bhaaskaran, Pro vice chancellor T Thyagarajan, director of VIT Chennai K Sathiyanarayanan, additional registrar, VIT Chennai, PKManoharan, and president of Institutional Chennai Chapter, VITAA Manojkumar Rajagopal, also took part.
