The Punjab government will give 1,38,000 bicycles to girls studying in Classes 11 and 12 in government schools in various parts of the state to boost girls' education, a state minister said Friday.
The scheme under the Women and Child Development Department will cost nearly Rs. 40 crore to the state exchequer, Education Minister Om Parkash Soni told reporters here.
He said 11,085 bicycles will to be given to girls in Amritsar district alone.
To begin with, as many as 940 girls of a government school here were given the bicycles, Mr Soni added.
"The aim of providing bicycles free of cost to girls is to encourage them to continue their education even after school," the minister said.
He also said the government was working to provide better teaching facilities for students in government schools.