Shot in the arm for Sabuj Sathi as state govt floats tender for 25 lakh more bicycles

To boost the state government's immensely successful Sabuj Sathi scheme, the Backward Classes Welfare (BCW) department has floated a tender for another 25 lakh cycles.

The pre-bid meeting will be held on March 14.

In the meantime, the Bengal government will distribute five lakh bicycles among students of Classes IX and X in state-run, aided and sponsored schools in five districts, under the Sabuj Sathi scheme.

The five districts where bicycles will be distributed are Alipurduar, Jalpaiguri, Nadia, Hooghly and South Dinajpur.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who named the project Sabuj Sathi, wants the firms which will supply the cycles to give a three-year guarantee, instead of a one-year guaranteed which is being given till now.

The parts for five lakh cycles have started arriving in the state. They will be assembled and then distributed among the beneficiaries.

It may be recalled that the state government had initially ordered 40 lakh bicycles – the highest ever by any state government in the country – for the students of state-run, aided and sponsored schools.

Of these, 25 cycles were distributed. The remaining 15 lakh could not be distributed as the code of conduct had came into force for the 2016 Assembly election.

After the new government was sworn in, cycles were distributed among 10 lakh students.

The remaining five lakh cycles will be distributed among students who have been promoted to Classes IX and X in 2017. The new cycles contain reflectors and will have a three-year guarantee.

The BCW department has imparted training to 3,000 SC and ST youths, who will work as fitters and assemble the cycles.

They may even set up cycle repairing shops to earn a livelihood.

The guarantee cards for the cycles will be given to the students and during the stipulated period maintenance and repair of cycles will be done free of cost.

The BCW department has the data of all the beneficiaries, which include their names, the classes they are studying, names of their parents and guardians and the date on which did the students received the cycles.

Distribution of cycles has particularly been beneficial to students who live far way from their school, particularly those living in rural areas. The number of school dropouts has also fallen drastically and the cycles have given confidence to the students.