2024-08-23 11:41:11
New Delhi: We don’t know whether Priyanka Kumari of Khoksa Kalyani village in Bihar’s dream of becoming a doctor was fulfilled or not. But Priyanka was one of those girls who benefited from the state government’s free bicycle scheme (Mukhyamantri Balika Cycle Yojana). Priyanka, who used to go to school occasionally, started going to school regularly. The bicycle made it possible for her to go to school 8 kilometers away every day. A bicycle gave wings to her dreams. There are thousands and lakhs of girls like Priyanka, whose dream of going to school and college was fulfilled by the bicycle. The two-wheeled bicycle made of iron emerged as a ‘silent revolution’. Free freebies are often mentioned during elections. All political parties rely on this. PM Modi may have expressed concern about this, but it continues unabated even in BJP-ruled states. There is discussion about freebies distributed in the name of social welfare and empowerment, but in what form should it be. It is also important to discuss this issue. A recent study has shown that providing free bicycles has doubled the trend of cycling to school in rural India, especially among girls. Researchers from IIT Delhi and Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies analyzed data from 2007 to 2017 and found that the number of children cycling to school in rural areas increased from 6.3% to 12.3% during this period. Research shows that this increase has been mostly in girls, which rose from 4.5% in 2007 to 11% in 2017.
Shocking revelations made in the study
The report, ‘A Silent Revolution: Rapid Rise of Cycling to School in Rural India’, was prepared by Srishti Agarwal and Rahul Goyal (IIT Delhi) and Adit Seth (Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies, Mumbai). The report states that between 2007 and 2017, the number of children using a bicycle to go to school increased from 6.6% to 11.2%.
The use of bicycles increased in the village
The report says that between 2007 and 2017, the number of children using cycles to go to school increased (from 6.6% to 11.2%). But when we looked at the data separately for urban and rural areas, we found that the increase was much less in urban areas (from 7.8% to 8.3%), the report further states. The report is based on data from three National Education Surveys conducted in 2007, 2014 and 2017, covering children aged 5-17 years. “The increase in cycling across the country is entirely due to the increase in the number of children cycling to school in rural areas (from 6.3% to 12.3%),” the report says.
Rural girls got a direction for their future
YearRural Girls (%)Rural Boys (%)Urban Girls (%)Urban Boys (%)20074.57.75.99.420148.411.66.310.120171113.36.89.4
In 2011, women were far behind
The report states that the 2011 census showed a huge difference in the use of bicycles by men and women to go to work. According to the report, while 21.7% of men (almost one in five) used a bicycle to go to work, only 4.7% of women (less than one in twenty) did so.
The number of girls riding bicycles has doubled
The report further states that another report of 2022 revealed that women were ten times less likely to cycle than men in Indian cities. But the report states that free bicycle distribution schemes in rural areas have reduced this gap. The bicycle revolution brought about by bicycle distribution schemes in villages has reduced this gap. The report shows that in 2007, only 4.5% of rural girls cycled to school. Ten years later, by 2017, their number more than doubled to 11%.
Changes made by bicycle distribution scheme
The number of boys cycling to school rose from 7.7% to 13.3% during the same period, the report said. “Gujarat was the first to launch the BDS (bicycle distribution scheme) in 1995, but even in 2017, only 5.1% of its rural girls cycled to school,” the report said. The report further said Uttar Pradesh was the last among the major states to start cycle distribution in 2016, but in 2017, 12.4% of its rural girls cycled to school.
Bihar was most affected
According to the report, in Bihar, only 1.7% of girls cycled to school in 2007, which increased to 13.5% in 2017. Overall, Bihar was the worst affected, as the report says that while only 1.7% of girls cycled to school in 2007, this number increased to 13.5% in 2017.
The report says that West Bengal has the highest number of girls (27.6%) who use bicycles to go to school. The report says, ‘West Bengal is at the forefront with 27.6% girls.’
Ease of going to school
According to the report, girls often take on household chores, especially in rural areas, and walking long distances to school (in the absence of bicycles or public transport) exhausts them, forcing them to drop out of school. The report also shows that only half (53%) of girls and women are able to leave the house during the day. According to the report, girls using bicycles to go to school will hopefully make younger generations more independent.
According to the report, other long-term benefits of increasing cycling among rural girls include “completion of higher education, engagement in non-agricultural jobs, and delaying early marriage and childbearing.” Of course, providing bicycles to school-going girls will not work if the bicycles are expensive to maintain, or the roads are unsafe. Governments need to focus on these aspects, the report suggests.
Bicycle is part of the silent revolution
The report says that we can celebrate that millions of Indian girls in rural areas have become part of a ‘silent revolution’ with their bicycles. Srishti Agarwal, co-author of the report, told the BBC, ‘This is a silent revolution. We call it a revolution because the level of cycling among girls has increased in a country where there is a high level of gender inequality in women’s mobility outside the home, in general, and in cycling, in particular.’
14 years ago, Priyanka Kumari from Khoksa Kalyani village in Bihar told Mint newspaper that her dream was to become a doctor. We do not know if Priyanka Kumari eventually became a doctor or not. The report said that Priyanka was one of the girls who benefited from the state government’s free bicycle scheme (Mukhyamantri Balika Cycle Yojana). Priyanka was one of the early beneficiaries of a state government scheme (Mukhyamantri Balika Cycle Yojana) to provide free bicycles to school girls. It seemed like a life-changing idea then, the report says. ‘Priyanka, who used to go to school occasionally, started going to school regularly,’ the report said. The bicycle made it possible for her to go to school 8 km away every day.
The number of girls passing 10th class with first class has doubled
The survey showed that the scheme has worked. Khushboo Kumari of Bagoun village in Bihar’s Katihar district secured second position in the Class 10 exam with the help of her bicycle. Overall, the number of girls passing Class 10 with first division in Bihar doubled from 37,708 to 75,136 within a year, the report said. The number of girls enrolling each year also rose from 1.6 lakh in 2006-07, when the scheme was launched, to 4.9 lakh by 2010, the report said.
The report says, “Free bicycles seemed to be the key to improving girls’ literacy and empowerment, so by 2017, a total of 20 states had implemented bicycle distribution schemes (BDS). Looking back, were these schemes beneficial or a waste of public money? Forget the big question of whether the beneficiary girls even used their bicycles? These schemes have certainly led to an increase in girls cycling to school.