Suvendu renames 'Sabuj Sathi' scheme as 'Sarathi', invites firms to make bicycles in Bengal

PTI, September 29, 2026, Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Tuesday rechristened the erstwhile Mamata Banerjee government’s 'Sabuj Sathi' bicycle distribution scheme for students as ‘Sarathi’ and invited entrepreneurs to manufacture pushbikes in the state, offering potential investors land and procurement contracts.

Formally launching the ‘Sarathi’ scheme at Madhusudan Pal Chowdhury High School in Howrah's Byantra, Adhikari announced that instead of the current practice of providing cycles to students of class 9 and upwards, the programme will be extended to class 8 pupils from the next fiscal.

“Earlier, components were brought from Punjab, and bicycles were assembled here. From now on, everything will be manufactured here. I am sorry to say that the relatives of the former chief minister used to get the work orders. We have changed that system,” Adhikari said, taking a dig at TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee.

“We will not only provide land to entrepreneurs who will set up bicycle factories in this state, but also have plans to sign agreements with them to buy their products. Our government will follow our PM’s ‘Vocal for Local’ policy,” he added.

Adhikari said 12.59 lakh students will receive the cycles in the current 2026-27 fiscal across 8,228 schools in the state.

The cycles under the renamed scheme wore a new look, with the previous blue colour being replaced by saffron and a new logo substituting the earlier Biswa Bangla emblem.

“We have not merely changed the name and logo of the project, but have taken steps to improve the quality of the products. A three-tier quality control system is now in place for the cycles, with their frame, fork, mudguard and tyres undergoing rigorous checks,” Adhikari said.

The CM justified the overhaul, stating that the new scheme is part of the government’s efforts to improve the quality of its welfare schemes.

“Many had questioned whether we will discontinue the schemes of the previous government. Welfare schemes are meant for people and have nothing to do with politics," he said.

"We had promised that no development schemes will be scrapped, but the flaws in the old schemes will be rectified. We had pledged to improve the quality of all such schemes across the board. The current scheme is one such endeavour,” he said.

Adhikari assured school authorities that the government will not interfere in choosing uniforms of students and leave the task to the respective managements.

“The school managements will decide on the uniform colour and brand. We will only work towards improving the quality of uniforms,” he said.

The CM took potshots at both the previous TMC and Left governments for the policies they pursued with regard to school education.

The TMC government committed a blunder by scrapping the National Cadet Corps module in schools, just like the Left committed an error by removing English at the primary level, he alleged.

"I have spoken to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh about introducing NCC in more schools in the days ahead. We will bring back NCC, NSS (National Service Scheme) and Bratachari in school curricula,” he said.

The Bratachari movement is a socio-cultural and spiritual movement initiated in 1932 by civil servant and folklorist Gurusaday Dutt in undivided Bengal.

Among his other key announcements, Adhikari said that from 2027, the annual allowance for girl students would be increased from Rs 1,000 to Rs 2,000.

Besides, smart classrooms, laboratories, libraries and playgrounds are being modernised in the current academic year in 800 schools, with 600 schools already approved and another 200 pending approval, he said.

“The previous government had kept the Composite Grant suspended for three years, but the present government, after coming to power, allocated Rs 300 crore at one go to 80,000 primary and higher secondary schools,” the CM said.

Adhikari said that, to address the long-standing shortage of teachers, the School Service Commission (SSC) has published, in the first phase, a list of more than 10,000 candidates that is completely genuine and free of discrepancies.