To mark the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, about one million student solar ambassadors from different parts of the country assembled with their ‘solar study lamps’ in a grand ceremony on October 2, 2019. The event was organized jointly by GSDS in collaboration with IIT Mumbai.
The Gandhi Global Solar Yatra (GGSY) was kick-started by Professor Chetan Singh Solanki of IIT-Bombay on Dec. 25, 2018, from Sabarmati Ashram in Gujarat. This year, GGSY gave more than 10 lakh students hands-on training in solar lamp assembly on October 2, which marked the culmination of this yatra. This year over 80 countries took part in this initiative.
This one-day event was conducted on the same day in nearly 180 countries especially in the countries of South Asia, Africa, and Latin America which face a lack of access to energy. According to GGSY, this event will be held on October 2 to celebrate the Gandhian principles of self-sufficiency.
The objective of the GGSY was aimed towards sensitization of over one million students towards adverse effects of climate change and making them future propagators of renewable energy and creating “Global Student Solar Ambassadors”.
On the occasion of Mahatma Gandhi's 150th birth anniversary, over 10,000 students set the Guinness Book of World Records by "assembling and lighting" their own solar lamps as part of the Global Student Solar Assembly.
While this was a pan India movement, the schools that took part under the aegis of GSDS were: Rajkiya Buniyadi Vidyalaya, Brindaban Champaran; Kasturba Balika Vidyalaya Bithiharwa; Rajkiya Buniyadi Vidyalaya, Sirasia Adda; Kasturba Gandhi Intermediate College, Sewapuri, Varanasi; Government J P B Girls Higher Secondary School, Damoh, Madhya Pradesh; Saraswati Shishu Mandir High School, Chattarpur, Madhya Pradesh; Noble Public School, Sagar, M. P. ; Kendriya Vidyalaya, Damoh, M.P.; Rajkiya Utkristh Higher Secondary School, Damoh, M.P; Shashkiya Naveen Hr. Sec School, Hata, M.P.; Shashkiya Model High School, Damoh, M.P.; Shri Jageshwar Nath Higher Sec. School, Damoh; Government Excellence Boys Hr. Sec. School, Damoh, M.P.; Saraswati Shishu Kanya Hr. Sec School, M.P; Navjagriti Hr. Sec School, M.P; Shaskiya Model Hr. Sec School, Madhya Pradesh; Axom Vidya Mandir Hr Sec School, Guwahati, Assam; Saraswati Vidya Mandir, Assam and Parijit Academy, Guwahati.