Bhopal. In the state, this year 2024-25, 4 lakh 50 thousand bicycles are being distributed free of cost to the students studying in government schools by the School Education Department. For this, 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 cycle distribution by November this year.
Under the Free Cycle Distribution Scheme, students living in rural areas, who are studying in class 6th and 9th in government schools and due to the absence of government secondary and high schools in the village of which they are residents, bicycles are distributed to the students to reach school conveniently. Under the scheme, bicycles are being provided to the eligible student on taking admission in class 6th and 9th. Along with this, free bicycles are also being provided to the girl students studying in girls’ hostel in rural areas, whose school is 2 km or more from the hostel. In the year 2023-24, free bicycles were provided to 4 lakh 7 thousand students under this scheme in the state.
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 Narsinghpur district. These students include Sonam Gond, a student of village Dongargaon and Ankita Sahu, a student of class 9th, Shivani Moriya, a student of village Pansi and Muskan Lodhi, a student of village Bharwara.
Sonam Gond, a student of village Dongargaon, says that the school is far from home. Sometimes she was not able to come to school on time due to missing the bus. Now that she has got a free bicycle from the government, she will be able to come and go to school on time. Similarly, Ankita Sahu, a student of village Dongargaon, says that she studies in class 9th in PM Shri MLB School Narsinghpur. She has to face a lot of problems in coming and going to school. Sometimes they are unable to go to school because the bus is too crowded. Now that they have got free bicycles, they will be able to go to school on time and their studies will not be interrupted.
Shivani Moriya, a student from village Pansi and Muskan Lodhi, a student from village Bharwara, say that sometimes they were unable to pay the bus fare due to lack of money. It took a lot of time to go to school from the village. This interrupted their studies. But now that they have got bicycles, they will be able to go to school on time and study without any interruption.
