Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday launched a scheme for free distribution of battery operated rickshaws.
Handing over 23 such vehicles to rickshawpullers for the trial phase here, Yadav said with this programme, the Samajwadi Party has fulfilled another promise it had made in its manifesto.
SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav appreciated the scheme and said that in the days to come, it would prove as a model for other states to emulate.
Urban Development Minister Mohammad Azam Khan said that based on the experience and feedback of the trial programme, technical committee would finalise the rickshaws to be finally given free of cost. The 23 rickshaws distributed today are from 13 companies.
He said their maintenance would be done by the state government.
Till now, local bodies have registered 2.48 lakh rickshaw pullers.
PTI
First Published: Saturday, February 09, 2013, 16:54