West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Tuesday launched the Sarathi bicycle scheme in Howrah, bringing free bicycles to students from Class VIII instead of Class IX from the next academic year and promising free land to companies that manufacture the bicycles in the state.
The announcement was made at a government-aided school in the Battrah area of Howrah, where the chief minister distributed bicycles to students under the renamed scheme. The programme was earlier known as Sabooj Sathi, which was launched in 2015 by the then chief minister Mamata Banerjee.
Under the earlier arrangement, students in government and government-aided schools became eligible for bicycles after entering Class IX. The scheme initially covered girl students before being extended to boys. Students did not have to submit separate applications, according to the report by Anandabazar – West Bengal.
Adhikari said the eligibility would now begin from Class VIII. The government introduced a new logo along with the new name, Sarathi. The move expands the scheme’s coverage by bringing students into the programme a year earlier, although the report does not specify the total number of additional beneficiaries or the budget allocated for the change.
The chief minister also said that companies and industrial groups willing to establish bicycle manufacturing facilities in West Bengal for the Sarathi scheme would be given land free of cost. The announcement places local production at the centre of the programme’s next phase, but details such as the location of the land, the selection process, the size of the proposed facilities and the terms of the manufacturing contracts were not provided in the report.
Adhikari criticised the previous government’s procurement arrangements while speaking about the earlier bicycle programme. He said bicycle components had previously been brought from Jalandhar in Punjab and that contracts had been given to a relative and an acquaintance of the former chief minister to assemble bicycles in the state. He said those arrangements had now been stopped. These claims were made by the chief minister and were not independently documented in the supplied report.
The event also included announcements related to schools and student services. Adhikari said students would receive smart tablets and that selected schools would be developed as smart schools. He also said the National Cadet Corps would be introduced in schools and advised students to limit mobile-phone use until Class XII.
After the launch and his address, the chief minister ate a midday meal with students at the school. The meal included rice, lentils, soybean, potato and lentil dumpling curry, and tomato chutney.
The next academic year will mark the first implementation cycle for bicycle distribution beginning in Class VIII. The government’s stated next steps are to roll out the renamed Sarathi scheme and facilitate bicycle manufacturing within West Bengal, though the report does not provide a detailed implementation schedule or procurement framework.
