Bengal to complete bicycle distribution under Sabooj Sathi scheme by March 15
Kolkata: The West Bengal government has directed all District Magistrates (DMs) to ensure the bicycle distribution programme under its Sabooj Sathi scheme be completed by March 15.
Panchayat elections are expected by end of April or early May and the state government wants to ensure all pending distribution of bicycles to the students before that.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee recently urged to complete the distribution process as early as possible.
The top brass in the State Secretariat issued fresh directions after it came to light that despite CM Banerjee’s direction, some district administrations have fallen behind.
Instructions have been issued that the distribution programme should not be hampered due to Madhyamik or Higher Secondary examinations. According to the state government data, around 1.46 lakh bicycles are yet to be distributed. Districts like Hooghly, Nadia, West Midnapore, East Burdwan, South 24-Parganas, Cooch Behar and Jalpaiguri are lagging behind, sources said.
Around 12,000 bicycles are yet to be distributed among students in Cooch Behar and in Hooghly the number is 18,000.
Chief Secretary H K Dwivedi recently held a meeting with the DMs instructing them to complete all the pending distribution works within March. The state government has been trying to ensure that people in the districts and the far-off places do not face difficulties while availing of the benefits under various social schemes of the government. All DMs have been directed to ensure the services at the grass roots level. The state government started the process of distributing over 12 lakh bicycles under the Sabooj Sathi scheme to students of class IX, in state-run, state-aided schools and madrasas across Bengal in December last year. The state government had set a target of disbursal of all these cycles by February this year.
The Sabooj Sathi scheme has received international recognition. The then state Finance minister Amit Mitra had announced the scheme in the state Budget during 2015-2016 fiscal. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had distributed the first batch of bicycles to the students at a function at Gopiballavpur (then in West Midnapore and now in Jhargram district) in October 2015. The World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) had in September 2020 handed over the winner’s prize to the state government for the project. Every cycle contains a Sabooj Sathi logo, designed by the CM. As per the government, the scheme — the only of its kind in the country — has immensely helped students, particularly in the rural areas.
