The government will give bicycles to 16 thousand poor girls to prevent child marriage. Only 6th class girls will get a bicycle. Along with the bicycle, they will be given an equal number of pumpers and lock chains. It will cost the government 25 crore rupees. The Directorate of Women Affairs will implement the project. If successful in the first phase, bicycles will be given to poor girls across the country.
This is the first time that bicycles are being given to backward students under the initiative of the government. Before this, bicycles were given to female students on a private initiative. Chhatra League gave bicycles to female students two years ago on the occasion of Prime Minister’s birthday.
The women’s department’s rationale for providing bicycles to backward girls is that through this, girls’ empowerment will be ensured. School dropout rate will decrease. The movement of female students will be safe. At the same time, confidence will increase among the students. Each bicycle will cost 14 thousand rupees. These bicycles will be distributed free of charge, but the selected girls will be given basic training in cycling.
The Ministry of Women and Child Affairs has sent the project titled ‘Providing Bicycles to School-going Girls in Kishore Empowerment’ to the Planning Commission for approval. An inter-ministerial meeting was held in this regard last Sunday. According to sources in the meeting, officials gave a positive opinion on the distribution of bicycles among female students.
However, planning commission sources say that the list of who will get the bicycle has not been finalized yet. The project will be listed after approval. A committee headed by the concerned Upazila Nirbahi Officer will be made to select the students. The headmaster of the school will be kept in this committee.
According to the sources of the Ministry of Women and Child Affairs, bicycles will be distributed in the form of a pilot project in 44 upazilas of 8 districts that are poor in the country. The districts are – Rajbari, Khagrachari, Jhenaidah, Chapainawabganj, Sunamganj, Barguna, Panchagarh and Sherpur. These districts have been selected in the light of Bureau of Statistics (BBS) Poverty Map.
Director General of the Directorate of Women’s Affairs Kaya Khan told Prothom Alo that an initiative has been taken to provide bicycles to poor female students to prevent child marriage. They will have maximum vigilance so that no one can get into this list. Bicycles will be given to poor students.