Swaniti spearheaded Government of Jharkhand’s innovative programme of distributing e-scooters to health workers, viz Auxiliary Nurse Midwives (ANM) and Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) workers in West Singhbhum. This was done by mobilising CSR funding. The team approached various CSR which were working on interventions focused on renewable energy for procurement of the E Scooters. This was accompanied by a detailed phase wise planning of distribution and training of using these scooters by the healthcare workers. Through its continuous effort the team in collaboration with various CSRs was able to raise nearly Rs 2 Crores for this initiative. Till date 295 scooters have been distributed by the team and 47 more scooters are in pipeline for distribution in the next phase. Swaniti Initiative is waging to fulfill the vision of Just Transition in Jharkhand by providing technical support to the government departments both at state and district administration level to facilitate an institutional shift towards a green economy by promoting renewable energy, sustainability in agriculture, and livelihood transformation from the conventional mining sector towards green jobs . The team further adopted a decentralized approach by enabling and capacitating different stakeholders, community members and government officials toward a just transition. Through the JH-RESET Programme, the team has been supporting the administrations in research and implementation in the domains of energy access, livelihood generation, and delivery of public services by building an ecosystem of green and sustainable solutions. The team has been able to mobilise more than INR 47 Crores to implement renewable energy and sustainability specific interventions across 12 districts of Jharkhand which has benefitted more than 9000 people.
The E-scooters distributed in the district had a major impact in improving accessibility of healthcare facilities in the district as well as facilitating a just transition to a green mode of transport. The villages where the ANM could visit only once a week ,now have at least 3 visits per week from these nurses. This has led to a major boost in the accessibility of healthcare throughout the district. This has also helped the district officers prepare for any future outbreaks of Covid-19. All these scooters are eco friendly in nature, which has led to a greener infrastructure and substantially reduced the cost incurred by the department on fossil fuels. This type of an initiative will foster the growth of a more circular mode of governance which will help in the district becoming a ‘Model Green District’ in the state.