A strong wind blowing through Umaidpur, West Bengal, shakes the kerosene lamp, disturbing Abhijit Das, 8, at his homework. When it eventually puts out the flame, the Class I pupil of Golbari Primary School waits for his mother to light it once again.

Umaidpur is a village without electricity in Satgachia, the constituency that used to elect former chief minister Jyoti Basu.