India, Aug. 13 -- Odisha's claim of full electrification of revenue villages contrasts sharply with life in Nunaresh, a remote tribal settlement in Kalahandi.

Officially covered yet off grid, the hamlets depend on failed decentralised renewable energy systems, long treks for basic services and costly diesel generators.

Their experience exposes how counting connections masks persistent energy poverty and unreliable, unaffordable power.

"When we saw light for the first time in 2017, we were so happy that we took a stroll around our area; the entire village was lit until we realised that we would be back in the dark again," Jugal Majhi recalled wistfully.

The village is Nunaresh or Nunresh, a remote Manda Khond or Kandha tribal settlemen...