Started in 2015, bicycles are given to students of state-run, state-sponsored, aided schools and madrasas studying between classes 9 and 12 in a bid to reduce the issue of dropping out of school, especially in rural Bengal.

After Kanyashree scheme, another West Bengal government project has received a global prize. The World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) on Monday handed over the winner prize 2020 to the state government for Sabuj Sathi project through a virtual ceremony, a state government official said.

Sabuj Sathi had contested with 800 projects from across the globe to become the “winner” under the e-government category.

S K Thade, principal secretary and officer-on-special duty of the Backward Classes Welfare Department, received the prize on behalf of the state government.

The project is the brainchild of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Started in 2015, bicycles are given to students of state-run, state-sponsored, aided schools and madrasas studying between classes 9 and 12 in a bid to reduce the issue of dropping out of school, especially in rural Bengal and also to ensure they continue school education till at least class 12. According to the state government, it has so far distributed cycles among 85 lakh students at an estimated cost of over Rs 2,700 crore.

In 2017, Kanyashree Prakalpa, which is a targeted conditional cash transfer scheme, received the United Nations highest award, the first place for Public Service. The scheme, which is a brainchild of Banerjee, received the first prize out of 552 projects of 62 countries, which were nominated for the award.

source: http://www.indianexpress.com / The Indian Express / Home> Cities> Kolkata / by Express News Service / Kolkata -September 10th, 2020