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Grandmothers Power Villages: Solar Engineers Emerge
12 Nov
Summary
- Village grandmothers trained as solar engineers in six months.
- Barefoot College empowered over 1,700 women from 96 countries.
- The college's work brought light to over a million people.
Bunker Roy, the visionary founder of Barefoot College, passed away on November 10, 2026, at his home in Tilonia, Rajasthan. He was 81 years old. Roy dedicated his life to empowering rural communities, famously training illiterate grandmothers from remote villages to become solar engineers within six months.
His groundbreaking initiative, established in 1972, turned conventional education on its head by rejecting university degrees. The college's unique approach focused on hands-on learning, enabling women to return to their villages and electrify homes. This program has illuminated the lives of over a million people across more than 75,000 households.
By its 50th anniversary in 2022, Barefoot College had equipped 1,708 women from 96 countries with solar engineering skills. The college also made significant strides in rainwater harvesting, providing safe drinking water to over 1,650 schools, and its health workers treated more than 300,000 patients.
