Sabuj Sathi: More than 1.04 crore bicycles distributed so far

kolkata: The backward Classes Welfare Department (BCW) has so far distributed 1.04 crore cycles under Sabuj Sathi project among the students of classes IX to XII of state-run, sponsored schools and madrasas.

The department has sought clearance from the Finance department and once the approval comes, cycles will be procured and distributed among the students, who have been promoted to class IX of the above mentioned schools.

The state government has proposed to set up a cycle manufacturing factory and some manufacturers have shown keen interest.

Sabuj Sathi, a pet project of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has received United nation's recognition. In the Budget speech in 2015, the then Finance minister Amit Mitra had first mentioned about the initiative, the first-of-its-kind in the country.

Chief Minister had given cycles to the first batch of students at a function at Gopiballavpur on October 30, 2015.

The scheme has successfully brought down the number of school drop outs and reduced the number of early marriages in the rural and semi urban areas, according to a survey conducted by the BCW department.

The BCW department has the names of all the beneficiaries, their schools, classes in which they studied when they received the cycles along with the names of the makers of the cycles and the names of their parents or guardians.

The BCW has given training to youths belonging to the SC and ST communities to maintain and repair the cycles that have been given to the students.