Labourers can now pedal by the side of students according to the facility extended to them by the state government

Patna, Aug. 17: Buoyed by the political dividends he reaped from his cycle-for-students scheme in the last Assembly elections, chief minister Nitish Kumar today extended the facility to labourers.

Like the Mukhyamantri Balika Cycle Yojana (CM’s scheme granting cycles to girl students), which was later extended to boys also, Nitish has formulated a separate scheme to give cycles to workers in the unorganised sector.

Under the scheme, the government will use one per cent of the tax collected on every construction work worth Rs 10 lakh and above in paying the cycle purchase amount to the workers.

The rule to pay one per cent tax to the labour department’s welfare board on every construction of Rs 10 lakh and above is in vogue since 2005. The government has, so far, accumulated Rs 132 crore through the construction tax which it will use, initially, to pay for the cycle amount to nearly 21,000 registered workers in the unorganised sector.

Later, more workers will be registered and the facility will be given to them.

“It will be a heartening experience to see women workers pedalling by the side of girl students. It will be an unforgettable scene, a history of sorts,” the chief minister said, while announcing the largesse at a function to give special subsidy to the unorganised workers. The programme had been organised by the labour department.

“If the girls and boys can ride the bicycle, why not their parents? I am really delighted that the labour department has offered this facility to workers also.”

Several women workers who attended the function cheered the announcement. “Nitish babu bada neeman aadmi bani (Nitish Kumar is a very good man). He thinks about all of us. I never even dreamed of riding a cycle at the age of 37. I may fall while learning to ride it, but I will,” said Rajmuna Devi, a labourer from Muzaffarpur.

Brijkishore Yadav, a worker from Gaya district, said: “So far we have been getting some financial support from the government but getting a cycle is a new thing for us. It shows that the government thinks about us.”

Nitish pedalled his way back to power in November 2010 with his NDA securing a brute majority, thanks to his cycle scheme. Cycles are a basic necessity for the poor in a high price fuel age, particularly in the hinterlands.

Not just that, three big cycle companies — TI Cycles, Hero and Avon — have shown interest in setting up manufacturing units in the state. The government’s decision today is likely to further raise the demand for bicycles.