1.5 lakh girl students to get cycles in Punjab

Chandigarh: Over 1.5 lakh girl students in Punjab will get bicycles in the next three months, a state government spokesman said on Monday.

He said that the Punjab government has already set aside Rs 47 crore for the `Mai Bhaggo scheme` under which all girl students of government schools of classes 9 to 12 would be gifted bicycles. The state government had distributed over 1.11 lakh bicycles to girl students studying in classes 11 and 12 at a cost of Rs 30 crore last year. The spokesman said that the scheme, introduced by Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal was envisaged specially to promote education among girls and to reduce the school dropout rate among them. He said that this scheme has been successful as the school dropout rate among girls has considerably decreased. He said that the Punjab government has decided to cover classes 9 to 12 under the scheme. IANS