Rajasthan: In Silicosis-Hit Villages, Women Turn Solar Engineers to Keep Their Families Alive

In Rajasthan, women whose husbands are incapacitated by the deadly lung disease silicosis from mining are finding new hope. Through a solar engineering program at Barefoot College, they are learning to install solar panels.

Image Credit : Getty

Silicosis

For 36-year-old Santosh Devi from Rajasthan’s Beawar district, learning solar engineering wasn’t just a skill—it was survival. Her husband, bedridden with silicosis, can barely breathe, let alone work. With four children to support and rising medical bills, Santosh found hope in an unlikely place: a solar engineering programme for rural women.

Image Credit : Getty

Barefoot College: Empowering Women Left Behind

Santosh joined seven other women for a three-month training at Barefoot College in Tilonia, an institution known globally for empowering rural women through hands-on solar engineering. The women learnt how to install solar panels, wire circuits, assemble lamps and repair basic solar equipment, skills that now help them light homes in remote villages and earn a dignified income.

Since 1972, Barefoot College has trained over 3,000 women from 96 countries, says Kamlesh Bisht, the institute’s technical manager.

Image Credit : Getty

A New Livelihood as Husbands Battle a Slow Killer

The common thread uniting these women is heartbreak: all of their husbands are suffering from silicosis, a deadly lung disease widespread across Rajasthan’s 33,000 mines. Years of inhaling silica dust while cutting sandstone, granite and marble have left thousands gasping for breath.

Santosh’s husband now survives on a meagre $16 monthly allowance, while she earns modest pay installing solar panels. Yet the emotional and financial toll is heavy—she has been forced to mortgage her mangalsutra, sell her jewellery and borrow from relatives to keep the household afloat.

Image Credit : Getty

Silicosis: A Widespread Crisis

According to pulmonologist Dr. Lokesh Kumar Gupta, Ajmer district alone records 5,000–6,000 silicosis cases. In Santosh’s village of 400 households, 70 people are already diagnosed.

Statewide, 2.5 million miners work for less than $6 a day, often without masks or safety gear. Those using jackhammers earn more but inhale even more toxic dust.

The disease has no permanent cure and kills slowly.

Image Credit : Getty

Another Story of Survival: Champa Devi’s Fight

Like Santosh, 30-year-old Champa Devi arrived at Barefoot College unable to write her own name. Today, she installs solar panels but hasn’t yet been paid for her work. Until steady payments come through, she earns just Rs 300 a day at construction sites, barely enough to cover her husband’s Rs 6,000+ monthly medical expenses.

Champa lives with her husband in a single dimly lit room, the sound of mine blasts echoing in the background.

Image Credit : Getty

Continuing to Work Despite Death Risk

Many miners continue to work even after severe symptoms appear.

“If I were diagnosed, what difference would it make?” says 55-year-old mine worker Sohan Lal, who struggles with breathlessness and chronic cough but keeps returning to the mines to feed his family.

State assistance schemes help, but only marginally Rs 1.93 lakh upon diagnosis and Rs 2.90 lakh to families after death.

Image Credit : Getty

Solar Power: A Ray of Hope Amid Grim Reality

Despite the hardships, women like Santosh and Champa represent a powerful shift. By installing photovoltaic panels that bring light to remote homes, they are not only earning a livelihood but also reclaiming independence in a region where jobs are limited and healthcare is inadequate.

“This training gave me courage,” Santosh says. “Now I can give my children a better future.”

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianet Newsable English staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)