Cycles are means of empowerment, says Mamata on World Bicycle Day
Kolkata: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee lauded the Sabooj Sathi project, where bicycles are given free of cost to students of Classes IX to XII of state-run and aided schools, on World Bicycle Day.
On the occasion she tweeted: "Today is WorldBicycleDay. A bicycle is not just a means of transport but an instrument of empowerment too. The Bangla Govt has distributed over one crore bicycles to students under Sabooj Sathi scheme. These cycles have enabled them to attend school even from far-off places. The Sabooj Sathi project was declared a 'Champion Project' at the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) Prizes given by ITU, a United Nations organisation in April, 2019, out of 1,140 projects across 18 categories."
Bengal is the only state in the country where more than one crore bicycles have been distributed among the students of state-run and aided schools. The project has successfully brought down the number of school dropouts and reduced the number of early marriages among girls. The Bengal government has spent over Rs 2,000 crore for the project.
The Backward Classes Welfare (BCW) department has the names of the students along with the classes they are studying in, names of their guardians and the schools and the day the cycles were given to them. The cycles have been maintained for one year and the department has given training to over 3,500 unemployed youths from the SC and ST categories to repair cycles as a part of the project to make them self-reliant.
The BCW department gave them kits free of cost. These youths have been engaged to maintain the cycles under Sabooj Sathi project.
It may be mentioned that in New Town, the cycle sharing scheme introduced by the Housing and Infrastructure Development Corporation (HIDCO) has become very successful. Under the scheme, a person can hire a cycle, use it for commuting and then leave the cycle on the stand after paying the requisite charges. In New Town, graded paths have been constructed only for cycles. The cycles are also fitted with GPS.
It may be recalled that in the early 20th century, Jagadish Chandra Bose and his wife Abala used to demonstrate bicycle riding in different localities to inspire Indians to ride them to work, which symbolised self-confidence and nationalism as only the British used to ride cycles.
