About 150 bicycles procured by the government for free distribution to school students are rusting under sun and rain on a school campus here. The authorities are apparently waiting for an appointment from a VIP for the distribution function.
The cycles were found parked in an open space on the campus of Sri Baldevdas Kikani Vidya Mandir Higher Secondary School at RS Puram. From the layers of the dust settled on the cycles, it was evident that they had been lying there for several months.
Already, tyres of most of the cycles had worn out. “If a cycle is parked with deflated tyres for long, the tyres would obviously wear out. Now we fear that the wheel rims would also catch rust and corrode if the distribution is further delayed,” said a staff of the school requesting anonymity. The cycles were provided by the state government to be distributed to the Class XI students free of cost to encourage to students to continue their education. The staff feared that further delay would render the entire scheme useless as it would cost a huge amount for the students to replace the tyres and repair the rusted parts of the bicycles.
When asked as to why the cycles were left to rust instead of being handed over to the children, nobody from the school management could provide clear answers. However, it is learnt that the cycles were given to the school about three months ago and it was being insisted that they must be distributed only in a function presided over by a VIP. The staff and the management were tight-lipped when asked who was insisting on this.