HPCL's Rasoi Ghar Project

weaning rural areas away from firewood

Cooking fuel in rural India is mostly wood which women have to fetch from the
forest often spending an hour or more every day.

A study undertaken by MART for HPCL in 2003 in 8 states found that the poor
cannot afford LPG as the initial connection cost for a 14.2 kg cylinder is Rs 1,600
and the refill costs Rs 270. To address the affordability issue HPCL introduced a 5
kg cylinder at Rs 95 for a refill and initial connection cost of Rs 800.
Simultaneously company dealers were advised to open extension counters in
larger villages to make the product available closer
to the villagers and the new product was promoted
in haats to create awareness. Despite these
initiatives sales did not pick up as expected
because as a subsequent study found the poor
believed that the cylinder was unsafe – it could
burst or gas could leak land some felt cooking on
gas could cause health problems as gas may get
into the stomach! To overcome these myths MART
suggested a novel idea of a community kitchen
(Rasoi Ghar) where women could experience the
benefits of safe, clean and convenient cooking on
LPG without having to make a heavy investment in
a new LPG connection by bringing their raw
materials. First and foremost, the idea is to introduce rural households to this
clean, efficient alternate fuel to firewood, expand its usage, and second, to
address crying health and environment issues stalking the hinterland.

On behalf of HPCL, MART has already rolled out over 1,600 community kitchens
in 2,000-plus population villages in half-a-dozen States, where women from the
poorer sections can experience the convenience of cooking with LPG in a
pollution-free environment.

The PPP model involves the

panchayat donating a small room
accessible to the socially and
economically backward classes,
HPCL contributing gas stoves, LPG
cylinders and cooking utensils and
a woman from the Self-Help
Group (SHG) being appointed as
a caretaker. Women bring in their
raw material and take back
cooked food paying a small fee of
Rs 2. The money collected is used
to buy refilled cylinder and pay
honorarium to the caretaker. Thus the model is economically viable.

By and by, as women understand the safety aspects of LPG and get hooked to
easy cooking, SHGs also set up `kitty' schemes where monthly contributions
lead to women in turn acquiring their own 5 kg LPG connection.

"Once all the women realise the

benefit, ease, safety and health
aspects of cooking on LPG and the
easy finance helps them get their
own connection, HPCL will uproot
its fixed assets in terms of the
community kitchen and move it to
the next village for a similar
exercise," explains Mr S.V. Shahni,
Executive Director, HPCL.

In fact, other oil marketing

companies have also been asked
by the Union Petroleum Minister to join the project and cover as much as they
can of rural India.

"It is a mammoth task and involves the cooperation of the village panchayat, the
SHGs and the community. We've achieved success wherever SHGs have been
involved. And now forest departments, Lions and Rotary clubs are also pitching
in with help," says Mr Shahni. HPCL is spending at an average Rs 8,000 to set up
a kitchen for a 20-family community.

The concept is also being extended to serve more purposes than one. The draft
for the National Level Programme of Rasoi Ghars includes making the community
kitchen a hub that could do more things than one — cook the mid-day meal for
the local school, double up as a service counter and dealership outlet for the
company and help augment the caretaker's earnings by serving as a tea-cum-
kirana store.

The project also addresses health and environment issues. A study sponsored
by the World Health Organisation revealed that Indian women who use firewood
regularly for cooking inhale the same amount of carcinogen benzopyrene as if
they were to smoke 20 cigarettes a day.

In terms of deforestation, a study conducted jointly by HPCL and the

Maharashtra Forest Department showed that the firewood consumption of a four-
member household is around four kilograms a day or about 10 small trees
(shrubs). This translates into average household firewood usage of 300 small
trees a month or 3,600 small trees a year. Shifting women to LPG would take
care of a large part of this deforestation.

HPCL Rasoi Ghar won MART the ‘Best Long Term Rural Marketing Gold Award
and the Special Jury Award 2005’ given by Rural Marketing Agencies Association
of India.