Cycle scam? Over ₹8 cr corruption suspected in Gujarat govt scheme
Updated: Jan 12th, 2025
A state government scheme has sparked a stir where over 14 districts of Gujarat, thousands of cycles purchased under the Saraswati Sadhana Yojana remain undistributed.
These bicycles are lying in a deteriorated state, yet the government is preparing to issue new tenders for purchasing more cycles, as per reports.
Allegations are made that the BJP government’s schemes are increasingly being perceived as scams. There are accusations of corruption worth ₹8.5 crore in the procurement of cycles under the Saraswati Sadhana Yojana. The investigations into this matter has reportedly been delayed.
In 2023-24, Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel launched the Namo Lakshmi and Namo Saraswati Vigyan Sadhna schemes. The scheme aimed to distribute cycles to girls from poor families belonging to SC, ST, and OBC communities by June 2023.
However, the process faced delays, including the delays in the tendering stage. The delays were attributed to modifications in tender rules to favour specific companies.
Moreover, the state decided to purchase cycles from a particular company at ₹500 more per unit than the rates in other states, as per reports. A total of 1.70 lakh cycles were procured.
If ₹500 extra is calculated per cycle, the state government paid ₹8.5 crore more to the cycle company.
Quality control inspections conducted in April 2024 at the Quality Control Center in Gandhinagar reportedly revealed that the cycles were of substandard quality, did not meet specifications, and failed to comply with ISI standards.
According to reports, despite blatant violations of tender conditions, the procurement proceeded. Notably, GREMCO had raised objections during the tendering process, pointing out that the rates were ₹587 higher than Rajasthan’s and ₹425 higher than West Bengal’s, yet no clarification has been provided on this issue.
Even after a letter was reportedly written to cancel the bid, the government did not cancel it and instead awarded the order to the same company. In districts like Ankleshwar, Kheda, Chhota Udepur, Dhanera, Vadodara, Narmada, Rajpipla, Banaskantha, Botad, Anand, Surendranagar, Jamnagar, Dahod, Bharuch, Una, Gir Somnath, Panchmahal, and Morbi thousands of cycles remain undistributed and are in a state of disrepair.
Reports suggest that the government is planning to repaint and refurbish these bicycles before distributing them to beneficiaries.
Over four months have passed since the academic year began, yet the girls have not received their cycles.
Demands have been raised to conduct a quality check on the bicycles, and if tender conditions have been violated, action should be taken against both the bicycle company and the responsible officials. A fair and transparent investigation into the bicycle procurement scam is being demanded.
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