Tehatta, Sept. 24: The state government's bicycle scheme has become so successful in Nadia that the two-wheelers have replaced students at three schools.
Classes have been affected at the three government-aided schools in Tehatta as three rooms in each of the institutions are being used to assemble bicycles and store them for distribution among students after Durga Puja as part of the scheme.
Nearly 4,000 cycles have been kept in the classrooms of Tehatta High School, Betai High School and Kutipara Rural High School for the past two months. As a result, classes from X to XII have been affected.
The Mamata Banerjee government had been distributing bicycles among girl students of Classes IX and above so far to help them reach school. "The ambit of the scheme was widened in November last year to include boys," a Nabanna source said.
A Class XII student of Tehatta High School said that in the first two weeks of August, no classes were held. "After that, two classrooms were arranged and students of Classes IX and X and Classes XI and XII were asked to attend school on alternate weeks. Later, students of Classes IX, XI and XII were asked to share the two rooms and attend school regularly. As a result, most students stopped coming to school fearing that the situation would turn chaotic," he said.
Mitali Roy, the mother of a student of Class XI, said: "My son attended some joint classes with students of Class XII, but that was not helpful."
In Tehatta High School, nearly 1,300 bicycles have been assembled in three classrooms. Cycles are lined up on the school ground too.
In Betai High School, around 1,200 bicycles have been kept in three classrooms. The scene is similar at Kutipara Rural High School, where around 1,400 bicycles have been kept.
Manik Ghosh, the headmaster of Tehatta High School, said classes were not being hampered.
"The assembling of bicycles has definitely become a problem. But as the tests for Classes X, XI and XII are slated for early October, most students have not been attending school regularly for preparations. However, we have been holding combined classes for students of IX to XII," the headmaster said.
The headmaster of Betai High School, Subal Chandra Ghosh, said: "No student has suffered as we have made alternative arrangements for them."
The district inspector of schools (secondary) of Nadia, Mitali Dutta, refused comment.
An official of the school education department in Salt Lake blamed the school authorities for the situation.
"The headmasters had been told to set up the cycle-assembling units at their schools only if possible and without hampering classes," he said.
The district magistrate of Nadia, Vijay Bharti, said: "I had categorically instructed the block development officers to set up the assembling units at government-owned stores and godowns. I am shocked to learn that classes have been affected for the assembling of bicycles. I had also told the BDOs not to keep the bicycles in schools as they could be stolen or damaged. I will inquire why our instructions were not followed properly."
The block development officer of Tehatta-I, Jahangir Mullick, said no big storage space was available in his block.
