Who can say no to a free ride? As many as 550 boys studying in classes VIII and IX at Laban Hrad Vidyapith (AD Block) and Acharya Prafulla Chandra High School for Boys (BK Block) took a free ride home on September 9.
Each of them was gifted a bicycle by Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation as part of their cycle distribution plan under the state government’s Sabooj Sathi scheme at the Central Park fairgrounds.
“Our chief minister grew up in a small village near Rampurhat and had to walk for miles in sultry weather to reach school. Later when she became CM she launched this scheme of gifting cycles to children so that they may be able to reach school on time and save their energy for studies,” said chairperson Krishna Chakraborty.
Councillor Rajesh Chirimar said: “The state government is providing free books, uniforms and cycles to help educate children in rural areas. We want our children to learn in a stress-free environment. The government is trying its best to ensure such facilities.”
MLA Sujit Bose, who inaugurated the programme, said: “In the last three years, we have distributed cycles among 70,00,000 students all over Bengal. A cycle in the family not only helps the student but also other members. It is an asset for the entire family.”
Three popular brands in collaboration with the authorities are providing the bikes — Hero Cycles, Avon Cycle and Hercules. Each cycle has an embedded special reflector to avoid accidents.
There is a fixed process that schools need to follow to apply for this scheme. They have to log on to the website saboojsathi.gov.in and feed the name of the school, number of cycles needed along with name and phone number of each student.
“Over the years we have been told about a couple of glitches in the cycles,” said SDO Saikat Chakraborty. “The tyres apparently aren’t bouncy enough, and the nuts and bolts have to be refitted after a year for better functioning. But these are minor glitches which I’m sure the students’ parents can take care of.”
Sahin Nayak, a Class X student at Laban Hrad Vidyapith, said: “I live in Baguiati. I’ve been looking forward to cycling to school, although I’m not sure if my parents will allow me given such heavy traffic on the main roads.”
Surajit Pyne, a Class X student at the APC school, said: “Till today I used to ride pillion on my cousin’s cycle to school. Now I have a cycle of my own. It is a different feeling altogether to ride your own cycle.”
Suspension order of BD school head revoked
The suspension order on Sukumar Chakraborty, headmaster of Bidhannagar Government High School, was revoked on September 7 after high drama.
The order had been issued on September 1 after an inspection of the school premises by education department officials on August 29 revealed “irregularities”. The order had raised eyebrows as Chakraborty had joined the school just three months ago.
Though the order did not reach Chakraborty, he met education minister Partha Chatterjee on September 6. A second inspection was carried out the next day by department joint director Manoranjan Roy, who was part of the earlier team also, and deputy director Debajyoti Baral.
Roy reportedly tried to extract a written apology from the headmaster who refused to do so. It has been alleged that Roy was “extremely rude” to him. After Roy rejected three drafts prepared by Chakraborty, the headmaster, who is five months away from retirement, offered to resign.
After an hour and half, the duo left with the fourth letter that Chakraborty wrote. But within half an hour, the suspension order reached the school, causing a flutter.
“When we brought this to the minister’s notice he expressed surprise as he had already signed the revokation of the suspension that morning. That order was handed to Chakraborty after he rushed to Bikash Bhavan,” said Saugata Basu, general secretary, West Bengal School Teachers’ Association.
The association wants Roy’s role in the case to be investigated. “How can he go on an inspection of the school where his wife teaches?” Basu wondered, while thanking the minister for his intervention. Roy claimed to be busy when contacted.
A STAFF REPORTER
