Resale on OLX of Sabuj Sathi bicycles gifted by chief minister Mamata Banerjee to school children

#sabujsathi #MamataBanerjee Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of West Bengal had gifted cycles to all school children from Classes IX to XII under the Sabuj Sathi scheme but many of these cycles are being resold through OLX by the students themselves or their relatives.
This has been reported in telegraphindia.com dated 29 January 2016.

There appears to be nothing secret about these resales because the phone numbers are given along with photos of the brand new cycles. They have provided various reasons for selling off the bicycles they had received as gifts. One of them admitted that he already had cycles, another said his brother did not know how to cycle.
It seems the state government's plan was to give 40 lakh bicycles to students of Class IX-XII by 2016-17. The state has plans to distribute 25 lakh bicycles by the end of this financial year. However, till now, a little over 17 lakh bicycles have been distributed. The state government would be incurring expenditure of nearly 700 crore for the entire scheme. Out of this, about Rs 400 crore has already been released by the finance department.



Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org

Some more interesting links -

Abhi Shake for industries to boost Bengal’s image (satire)

Rum Mudda reminds Moody about temples (satire)

Didi is allergic to anything red (satire)


Odisha offers windsurfing, snorkeling and other water sports on the Mahanadi River

Goat farming brings joy to people of Nag Tibba in Tehri

Foods that help to lower cholesterol levels and control heart disease


“The Lion Guard: Return of the Roar” - Disney’s upcoming television movie

'Avatar 2', sequel to 'Avatar' of 2009 expected to release in Dcember 2017

Aamir Khan no longer the face of Incredible India


Bomb attack kills 9 persons in Cairo near road leading to Egyptian pyramids

Woman with fake passport in a British Airways flight from Ibiza leads to panic

Tourists to Morocco told by Foreign Office to be vigilant about possible terror attacks