Organisation : Government of West Bengal
Scheme Name : Sabooj Sathi Bi-cycle Distribution Scheme
Applicable For : ST, SC & OBC Students studying in classes IX to XII
Applicable State/UT : West Bengal
Website : https://wbsaboojsathi.gov.in/v2/about_scheme.php
What is Sabooj Sathi Bi-cycle Distribution Scheme?
Hon’ble Finance Minister, in his Budget Speech of 2015-2016, announced a scheme for distribution of bicycles to an estimated 40 lakh students studying in classes IX to XII in Government and Government Aided Schools and Madrasahs of the State. He announced that around 25 lakh students would be covered in 2015-16 and the remaining 15 lakh in the next fiscal.
By now, this scheme is well-known as “Sabooj Sathi” as coined by Hon’ble Chief Minister herself and it reflects her desire to see young students empowered to achieve new feats in the future through the bicycles provided under the scheme. She also created the scheme logo which is firmly attached in the basket in front of the bicycle.
Objective of Sabooj Sathi Bi-cycle Distribution Scheme
The scheme was conceived with the primary objective of enhancing student access to Secondary Education. The scheme is further expected-
** To increase retention in schools,
** To encourage students to take up higher studies,
** To inculcate sense of confidence among the girl students by promoting mobility,
** To promote environment-friendly and healthy means of transportation.
The objectives are aligned with four Sustainable Goals of agenda 2030.
These are SDG3:
Good Health & Well-being, SDG4: Quality Education, SDG5: Gender Equality and SDG13: Climate actions.
Administrative Structure of Sabooj Sathi Bi-cycle Distribution Scheme
The Backward Classes Welfare Department and the West Bengal SC, ST and OBC Development & Finance Corporation (formerly WB SC & ST Dev & Fin Corporation) have been declared “Nodal” Department and “Implementing Agency” respectively. A Steering Committee consisting of the Secretaries of the Departments of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, School Education, Minority Affairs & Madrasah Education & Sundarban Affairs was constituted to guide the implementation process.
An inter-departmental Tender Committee was formed for observing the procurement process. At the District level, Nodal officers were identified for shouldering the responsibility of the scheme and SDOs, BDOs and Executive officers of Municipalities were further aligned for ensuing implementation in a time bound manner.
Procurement of Sabooj Sathi Bi-cycle Distribution Scheme
Procurement was done through e-Tender, as per the existing norms of the State Government. Specifications were finalized in consultation with the “Research & Development Centre for bicycles & sewing machines”, an entity created under the joint effort of the Punjab Government and UNDP.
To maintain transparency, the status at different stages was shared in the public domain through https://wbtenders.gov.in and https://wbsaboojsathi.gov.in So far, seven phases of procurement has been done where leading Indian manufacturers – Hero Cycles Ltd., TI Cycles Ltd and Avon cycles ltd. were selected.
Funding of Sabooj Sathi Bi-cycle Distribution Scheme
The cost of implementation of the Sabooj Sathi Scheme is borne by the departments of Backward Classes Welfare for SC & OBC students, Tribal Development for ST students, School Education for General category students & Minority Affairs & Madrasah Education for Minority category students.
E-Governance in Implementation of Sabooj Sathi Scheme
Implementation of the scheme has multi-dimensional challenges like collection of students’ record, consignment tracking and management, selection of secure places for delivery, tagging of schools, deployment of a huge number of fitters from across the country, their logistic arrangements, security etc. and finally keeping distribution records in the public domain as a part of our proactive disclosure policy. https://wbsaboojsathi.gov.in was developed with the dedicated support team of NIC to handle all the modules and to cater to the requirements of all the stakeholders of this mammoth scheme.
Contact
Call : +91 9123917773
Email : saboojsathi-wb@gov.in