Jaipur: More than 1,500 scooters bought under the Rajasthan government’s Kali Bai Bheel Scooty Scheme are lying unused and deteriorating at two colleges in Banswara. The scooters, bought at Rs 80,000 each, were meant for academically meritorious girls from economically weaker families to support their higher education. However, these vehicles, worth nearly Rs 12 crore, have been left to gather rust instead of reaching the intended beneficiaries.
Launched in 2020, the scheme aimed to encourage girls from families earning less than Rs 2.5 lakh annually to continue their studies in Classes 11, 12, and college. Eligible girls needed to score at least 65 per cent in the state board exams or 75 per cent in CBSE exams. However, the distribution of the scooters has stalled since 2023, with the vehicles parked at Vidyamandir College and Hardev Joshi Government Girls College, an NDTV report said.
Delay due to government change
Officials attribute the delay to the change in government and the model code of conduct during last year’s elections. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won the Rajasthan Assembly elections, ousting the Congress-led Ashok Gehlot government that initiated the scheme. The finance department is yet to generate the QR codes required to distribute the scooters to eligible students.
Criticism mounts
Dr Sarla Pandya, principal of Hardev Joshi Government Girls College, said that the delay is due to the election code and that they are now waiting for clearance from the finance department. Banswara MP Raj Kumar Roat of the Bharat Adivasi Party criticised the BJP government for its “criminal neglect,” accusing it of failing to monitor the situation, leading to the scooters turning into scrap.
Rajasthan’s Minister for Tribal Welfare, Babu Lal Kharadi, promised that the scooters would be distributed within a week but did not provide a clear explanation for the year-long delay. He added that action would be taken against officials responsible for neglecting the government assets. Meanwhile, the administration has begun inspecting the scooters to ensure they are still functional.
