Mohammad Abdul Kalam, a 24-year-old farmer from Latehar district in Jharkhand, recalls a time when preserving his tomato harvest before selling them in the nearby mandi (market) was difficult. He described how his family would spread their tomato harvest under the sun to reduce moisture and increase their shelf life. Fortunately, a few years ago, the local officer from the Directorate of Agriculture (DCO) introduced solar dryers to farmers like Abdul.

Speaking to The Better India, Abdul recalls, “Before using the solar dryer, most of our tomato harvest would get wasted. But after DCO Sir and DC (Deputy Commissioner) Sir introduced the solar dryer a couple of years ago to farmers like me, we benefited from that and are now growing the crop happily.”

Elaborating further, Abdul, who now grows maize, paddy, mustard, and tomatoes on his two-acre farm in Bariyatu block, says, “Initially, the profit (margin) wasn’t too high, but the process of learning how to use this new technology has been invaluable. Moreover, over time, we have started making more money, and every season we have used this solar dryer, our crops have become more profitable.”

Farmers like Abdul from coal mining-intensive districts, such as Latehar, are beneficiaries of the Jharkhand State Roadmap for Ecological and Sustainable Energy Transformation (JH-RESET) Project, a Swaniti Initiative-led project supported by the State government that began less than a decade ago. Swaniti Initiative is a non-profit headquartered in Delhi that partners with State governments to improve the delivery of public services.

Aimed at driving a sustainable energy transition in coal mining-affected districts, this project is helping smallholder farmers in 12 mining districts transition from low-value agriculture to high-value horticulture, addressing their supply chain and market access issues by providing them with access to solar-powered dryers, cold storage units, and pump sets. By deploying solar dryers, for example, tomato farmers in some of the best-performing districts saw a 30-40% rise in their monthly incomes, according to Swaniti.

Furthermore, the project aims to leverage existing employment exchanges for former mine workers and assist them in finding job opportunities in solar manufacturing and assembly, food processing, eco-tourism, and pisciculture. Given the expected closure of coal mines as governments shift further towards renewable energy. While the scope of this project has increased tremendously, it owes its origins to more humble circumstances.

In late 2015, parliamentarians from a few coal-mining districts in Jharkhand approached the Swaniti Initiative, a Delhi-based non-profit that partners with State governments to improve public service delivery. The MPs were keen to ensure that their District Mineral Foundation Trust (DMFT) funds—intended for welfare and development in mining-affected areas—were used in alignment with community needs.

To the uninitiated, the DMFT is a public trust that channels funds towards developmental and welfare schemes in districts impacted by mining activity. The parliamentarians, responding to feedback from local leaders, wanted to deploy these funds more efficiently and with greater accountability.

“After a few initial conversations, we started testing out the waters by walking through district administrations overseeing these DMFT resources,” recalls Rwitwika Bhattacharya, Founder and CEO of Swaniti Initiative, in a conversation with The Better India. “There were some champion bureaucrats at the time who really wanted to deploy their resources in a manner that aligned with the needs of the communities they were serving.”

The journey began with pilot programmes in Ramgarh and Bokaro, districts led by progressive district magistrates B Rajeshwari and Rai Mahimapat Ray (both 2011 batch IAS officers). “They were focussed on figuring out what their communities needed and finding more sustainable economic opportunities for them aligned with India’s sustainable development goals (SDGs). Soon, we deployed our fellows to start working out how DMFT resources could be aligned with the needs of the community,” Rwitwika adds.

These early efforts triggered a broader response. As Swaniti’s fellows embedded themselves within the local administrations, more district officials began to explore how DMFT funds could better serve vulnerable groups, especially informal mining workers. Many administrators started mapping out economic alternatives and sought to unlock public funds to support these pathways.

Over time, Swaniti’s role evolved. What began as an effort to optimise DMFT usage expanded to include convergence with other State and Union government schemes. The focus shifted towards enabling a ‘just transition’—ensuring that communities dependent on fossil fuel economies weren’t left behind in India’s shift to a more sustainable, inclusive future.

Nearly a decade later, those small........

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