Bihar’s virtuous cycle
Sometimes the most obvious solutions have the greatest effect. One of India’s most backward states decided to give girls bicycles to encourage them to go to school. The cycle movement is working so well that a coming election may hinge on it, reports Vijay Swaroop. See graphics
Bihar has a refreshing new motif: girls in uniform on shiny new cycles, confident and assured, simply because they go to school.
A little over three years ago, the Bihar government launched the Mukhyamantri Balika Cycle Yojana—the chief minister’s cycle scheme for girls. The plan entitled girls in class 9 and 10 to a free cycle from the state or R2,000 to buy one—mirroring a scheme started by Tamil Nadu but revolutionary all the same for a state like Bihar, where the girl child has traditionally received short shrift (as in most of India).
What might have seemed a populist and seemingly empty gesture has actually brought about a revolution in a state known not so long ago for its crime, lack of development and a chief minister known more for his rhetorical bombast. It was his much less flamboyant successor Nitish Kumar who kicked off the cycles for girls programme.
The numbers reflect a dramatic impact: Since 2007-08, Bihar has spent R174.36 crore on cycles for 871,000 school girls. Girls enrolling in schools in the state have shot up from 160,000 in 2006-07 to 490,000 now. Dropouts among girls declined to 1 million from about 2.5 million in 2006.
The plan has released a pent-up hunger for learning. It’s brought in a “sense of urgency in (the) girls and they want to excel. By providing them bicycles, the government has helped us groom their talents,” says Manisha Ranjan, a biology teacher in High School Desari in Bihar’s Vaishali district, 55 km from Hajipur, the district headquarters.
Sometimes the most obvious solutions are also the right ones, acting as instruments of change. For one, the cycles have bridged distances to schools, and secondly, have given girls in a largely patriarchal society a sense of independence and of purpose.
Priyanka Kumari of Khoksa Kalyani village, formerly an occasional school-goer, now pedals 8km daily to school. “Now, I’ve become regular and punctual,” she says. She wants to become a doctor.
“These girls now talk about careers,” says Ram Balak Rai, principal of High School Desari, 55km from Hajipur, the district’s headquarters. “They have become much more confident,” he adds.
Of the 974,000 students who appeared for the state board’s class 10 exams, 400,000 were girls. Of these, 75,136 got a first class, more than double last year’s 37,708. Each of these girls is entitled to an incentive of R10,000.
Among those in the first division is Khusbhoo Kumari, a beneficiary of the cycle scheme from Bagaun village in Katihar district, about 340km south-east of state capital Patna. She came second in her class 10 exams. The Indira Gandhi National Open University (Ignou), a distance education institute, is planning a documentary on how she overcame her struggles to achieve the distinction.
“The scheme is very close to my heart,” says chief minister Kumar. “I have no hesitation to say that this scheme has played a significant role in bringing about a positive change.”
“Nothing gives me a greater sense of fulfilment of a work well done than seeing a procession of school-bound, bicycle-riding girls,” he said. “It’s a statement for social forward movement, of social equality and of social empowerment.”
The cycle scheme isn’t the only programme helping to keep girls in schools. Under the Mukhyamantri Balika Poshak Yojana, all girls studying in classes 6 to 8 are given R700 each for school uniforms and study material. Over 3.6 million students have benefited from the scheme since it began in 2006. In 2009, the scheme was extended to girl students of class 3, 4 and 5.
The success of the programmes has ensured Kumar the support of those who have benefited from them. “No previous government ever thought about the girls and women in this way,” says Neha, a class 10 student of High School Desari. “We will prevail upon our villagers to prefer such leaders.”
(Re-Imagining India is a joint initiative of Hindustan Times and Mint to track and understand policy reforms that could, if successful, transform India’s efforts at inclusive growth. To see previous articles in the series, go to: www.hindustantimes.com/reimaginingindia)