As many as 4 lakh 50 thousand free bicycles are being distributed to students of government schools in the state by the School Education Department for the year 2024-25. A provision of Rs 195 crore has been made in the departmental budget. Instructions have been given to the district officials to complete the work of bicycle distribution by November this year.
Bicycles are being distributed under the free cycle distribution scheme to students of Class 6th and 9th studying in government schools in rural areas and those residing in villages that have no government, secondary and high schools. Under the scheme, bicycles are being provided to eligible students taking admission in Class 6th and 9th. Along with this, free cycles are also being provided to students residing in girls hostels in rural areas, and if their school is at a distance of 2 kilometers or more from the hostel. Under this scheme, free bicycles were provided to 4 lakh 7 thousand students in the state in 2023-24.
Bicycles distributed to 142 girl students in PM Shri School Narsinghpur
Free bicycles were distributed to 142 girl students of PM Shri MLB School, Narsinghpur in the Narsinghpur district. These girl students include Sonam Gond and Ankita Sahu (Class 9), both from Dongargaon village, Shivani Maurya of Pansi village, and Muskaan Lodhi of Bharwara village.
Sonam Gond, from Dongargaon village, says that the school is far from her home. Sometimes she gets late to school when she misses the bus. Now that they are getting free bicycles from the government, they will be able to reach school on time. Similarly, Ankita Sahu, of the same village, says she is a Class 9 student of PM Shri MLB School, Narsinghpur. They have to face a lot of problems in commuting to school. Sometimes they are unable to go to school because the bus is overcrowded. Now that they will get a free bicycle, they will be able to reach school on time and will not let their studies get hampered.
Shivani Maurya, of village Pansi, and Muskaan Lodhi, village Bharwara, say that sometimes they are not able to pay the bus fare. It takes a lot of time to travel from the village to the school. This hampered their studies but now with the availability of a bicycle, they will be able to reach school on time and pursue their studies without any hindrance.
