Gujarat: 4,000 Cycles Meant For Kids Of Govt Schools Fit Only For Scrap Now, AAP Shares Video

AAP Gujarat has alleged that unused bicycles for Gujarat school students were bought by BJP leaders at inflated costs and left to rust.

The cycles rusting away under the sun.

Source : X@manoj_sorathiya

Aam Aadmi Party Gujarat general secretary Manoj Sorathiya has shared a video in which hundreds of cycles can be seen lying unused on an open ground. Sorathiya, an AAP leader from Surat, alleged that the cycles were meant for students of government schools in Gujarat, but were never distributed. 

"These bicycles were to be distributed among the children of government schools in Gujarat. Bharatiya Janata Party leaders do not care about children. They are only interested in money. So, they bought expensive bicycles and wasted the money. They left the bicycles to rust in the sun," Sorathiya said.

यह साइकिलें गुजरात की सरकारी स्कूलों के बच्चों में बटनी थी। भाजपा के नेताओं को बच्चों की फ़िकर नहीं। उनको तो सिर्फ़ पैसों से मतलब है इस लिये महेंगी साइकिलें ख़रीद कर पैसे खा गये और साइकिलें धूप में जंग खाने को छोड़ दी।@AAPGujarat ने भाजपा को बेनक़ाब किया।
pic.twitter.com/crHVIOcT0L

— Manoj Sorathiya (@manoj_sorathiya) November 13, 2024

The cycles no longer seem to be in a condition to be used. The cycles, which have suffered the wrath of the elements, have mostly rusted away and can now have only one use — selling in scrap to recover some of the money spent to acquire them.

ABP Live couldn't, however, independently verify the claims of the AAP leader.

Earlier this year, a similar event unfolded in Gujarat when hundreds of cycles in different districts such as Godhra, Surat, Bodeli, Vadodara, et al, had to be auctioned as scrap. The cycles, which had been acquired in batches since 2014, had been lying in the open and rusted away. The state government finally ordered the auction in August.

According to a Times Of India report, Panchmahal district primary education officer (DPEO) Gayatri Patel attributed the undistributed bicycles to girls not attending government schools from Class: 9, resulting in the surplus. However, she did not explain why additional cycles were acquired every year despite the surplus.

Sorathiya's video doesn't mention whether the cycles he showed have been auctioned already or are the surplus stock acquired by the Gujarat government.