Rajasthan Bought 1,500 Scooters For Girl Students. A Year On, They Are Turning To Scrap

More than 1,500 brand new scooters purchased so that meritorious girls from poor families could continue higher education are slowly turning to scrap in two colleges in Banswara in southern Rajasthan. Bought at Rs 80,000 each as part of a flagship scheme of the Rajasthan government, the scooters tell a story of taxpayer money - nearly Rs 12 crore in this instance -  gathering rust. 

The Kali Bai Bheel Scooty Scheme, launched in 2020, was aimed at encouraging girls with a good academic record from families with an annual income of less than Rs 2.5 lakh to pursue further studies in Classes 11 and 12 and college. To be eligible, the girls had to score 65% or more in the state board exams and 75% or more in the CBSE exams in Class 10 or 12. 

The scooters have been parked on the grounds of the Vidyamandir College and the Hardev Joshi Government Girls College in Banswara since 2023 and officials said the change in government late last year and the model code of conduct for the Lok Sabha elections have delayed their distribution. The BJP won the Assembly elections last year and took over from the Ashok Gehlot-led Congress government, under which the scheme was launched. 

After girls apply for the scooters, a QR code is generated for each of them by the finance department after making sure that they meet the criteria. In the case of the 1,500 scooters, the code has not been generated 

Dr Sarla Pandya, principal of Hardev Joshi Government Girls College, said, "We are the nodal college for distributing scooties under the welfare scheme. They were not distributed because of the model code of conduct and we are now awaiting a go-ahead from the finance department "

The opposition has called it severe carelessness by the present government. Banswara MP Raj Kumar Roat of the Bharat Adivasi Party said, "This is criminal neglect by this government, the scooters are rusting and turning to scrap instead of reaching the beneficiaries. It is very sad that the government is not monitoring this situation."

Government's Take

After NDTV began making enquiries, the administration started pulling out the two-wheelers onto open ground and turning on the ignition to check if they were working. 

Rajasthan Minister For Tribal Welfare Babu Lal Kharadi said the scooters would be distributed within a week but had no answer for why it took the new BJP government nearly a year to realise that they had remained parked. 

"Approximately 3,000 scooties were purchased in 2023 and 1,500 were distributed. This is a matter related to the previous government. There were the Lok Sabha elections and then the Assembly session... we will ensure the scooters are distributed within a week," he said. 

Mr Kharadi also said action will be taken against officials for the neglect of government assets