Iqbalpur village of Gurgaon district has become the first Haryana village covered 100 per cent by solar home-lighting systems. Deputy Commissioner Deepti Umashankar handed over a solar home-lighting system to the 201st customer of the village at a programme organised here today. The village has achieved this distinctive status with persistent efforts of the Gurgaon Gramin Bank, which has worked in collaboration with the Bharatiya Vikas Trust, Manipal, Karnataka, and Tata BP Solar India. The bank provided 100 per cent loan facility for the installation of solar home-lighting systems. Deepti Umashankar underlined the importance of non-conventional energy sources in the present-day power situation and asserted that the potential of solar energy could be effectively used to bridge the gap between the demand and supply of electricity. She lauded the role played by the Gurgaon Gramin Bank in making this village a 100 per cent solar home-lighting village. "The village as well as the bank have set an example for others to replicate," she observed. The Deputy Commissioner honoured the first solar home-lighting system customer, Kiran, and the 201st customer, Rajesh Kumar, of the village. She also presented loan sanction letters to villagers and self-help groups of the village. Chairman of the Gurgaon Gramin Bank NT Hegde presided over the function. Hegde said the bank had fixed a target of setting up 5,000 solar home-lighting systems by the end of this financial year. "The bank provides crop loans at 7 per cent interest on the Kisan Credit Card with an additional insurance benefit of up to Rs 50,000," he said, adding that the crop insurance facility was also available under this scheme. KM Udupa, Managing Trustee of the Bharatiya Vikas Trust, Manipal; Amit Kumar, Deputy General Manager of Tata BP Solar; and Iqbalpur sarpanch Lakshmi Devi were also present.