That is why it is so important that Greenpeace India continues to work for a better life for India's citizens and to help deliver clean, reliable electricity for all. Dharnai shows what real development -- development that doesn't cost the Earth -- looks like. It is this kind of sustainable development that Greenpeace India stands for. And it shows the absurdity of recent suggestions that Greenpeace in India is acting against India's national interest.
Ironically, Greenpeace India's work to bring energy to Dharnai has been rewarded with brickbats rather than bouquets by India's recently elected government. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has suspended Greenpeace India's ability to receive foreign donations and has also frozen the organization's domestic accounts.
Even as my Indian colleagues prepare to answer the MHA's allegations, in court if necessary, the Indian government's actions beg the question -- how does delivering electricity to a village that had none, or advocating for clean air, safe food, protecting forests and legally sanctioned rights equate to undermining economic interests?
But the story of Dharnai goes well beyond India. Hundreds of millions of people worldwide live without electricity. For them, the Dharnai solar-powered micro-grid could be a game-changer, a model for bringing clean, reliable energy to all.
Communities without electricity, and their governments, can make a leap forward by setting up their own renewable-power systems. They can avoid the pollution from coal-burning power plants and build a clean-energy system that local communities own and control.
If all of us put our efforts into achieving a renewably powered world, we can conquer climate change and vastly improve the livelihoods of people in even the poorest regions. That is the message of Earth Day in 2015. That is the message of Dharnai.
To learn more about Dharnai, please visit: dharnailive.org
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Photo (c) Greenpeace