Rajasthan Bought 1,500 Scooters For Girl Students. A Year On, They Are Turning To Scrap
NDTV
The Kali Bai Bheel Scooty Scheme, launched in 2020, was aimed at encouraging girls with a good academic record from families with an annual income of less than Rs 2.5 lakh to pursue further studies.
More than 1,500 brand new scooters purchased so that meritorious girls from poor families could continue higher education are slowly turning to scrap in two colleges in Banswara in southern Rajasthan. Bought at Rs 80,000 each as part of a flagship scheme of the Rajasthan government, the scooters tell a story of taxpayer money - nearly Rs 12 crore in this instance - gathering rust.
The Kali Bai Bheel Scooty Scheme, launched in 2020, was aimed at encouraging girls with a good academic record from families with an annual income of less than Rs 2.5 lakh to pursue further studies in Classes 11 and 12 and college. To be eligible, the girls had to score 65% or more in the state board exams and 75% or more in the CBSE exams in Class 10 or 12.
The scooters have been parked on the grounds of the Vidyamandir College and the Hardev Joshi Government Girls College in Banswara since 2023 and officials said the change in government late last year and the model code of conduct for the Lok Sabha elections have delayed their distribution. The BJP won the Assembly elections last year and took over from the Ashok Gehlot-led Congress government, under which the scheme was launched.
