Artists give final touches to the statues at Gandhi Maidan as part of the preparations for Bihar Divas in Patna on Wednesday. Picture by Nagendra Kumar Singh

Patna, March 16: The Mukhyamantri Balika Cycle Yojana scheme had one more taker: the artist at the Gandhi Maidan, preparing for the Bihar Divas.

The artist, Umesh Kumar Sharma, is preparing a statue of two girls on a bicycle. He said the face of the state has been transformed by the yojana.

He said he was really moved over by the impact the scheme had on the girls across the state, lakhs of whom go to schools today.

“Earlier, it was hard to find a schoolgirl riding a bicycle even on the streets of the state capital. But now, you can see scores of them looking confident and pedalling away everywhere, even through the narrow lanes. The small roads of the city and the remote village have the same picture to depict,” Sharma told The Telegraph.

He said he was so impressed with the transforming image of the state that has “forced” him to take up the issue in his work. “The cycle not only symbolises the changing picture of the state, but also of the freedom a girl has today,” he said.

He said: “I am not doing this to please anybody. The concept has proved to be such a huge success that such a hit that it is being followed in other states and I am sure people will appreciate the statue. I want the visitors to realise what kind of change the state has gone through in terms of providing equality to girls in the past few years.”

The artist said with regard to the women empowerment in the state, a 20ft statue of a village woman at the centre surrounded by 40ft water.

Chief minister Nitish Kumar would float 99 diyas into the water to mark the completion of 99 years of the formation of the state.

Sharma said: “I have made statues of 10 women in different poses describing different values and ethos. I have tried to symbolise the Chhath festival and how women piously perform it. I have also tried to symbolise the effort of farmers in the state.”

Krishna Kumar, a labourer from Chhapra, was giving final touches to the statue of two girls on a bicycle. He said: “It has taken me more than 10 days to complete the structure and it will take another few days to have a complete statue with painting. We don’t do anything in a hurry, as it needs a lot of concentration.”