PCMC to spend Rs1.5 cr for 4,000 cycles for students

The Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) standing committee has approved an allocation of Rs1.5 crore for purchasing 4,000 bicycles for students of municipal schools.

Standing committee chief, Suman Pawale, said the subject was presented on short resolution notice and passed during the meeting held on Tuesday evening.

Under the Nagarvasti Vikas Yojana, the civic administration distributes bicycles to students studying in standard VIII and XII. PCMC started distributing it to students from 2003-04.

It distributed 150 bicycles at an expenditure of Rs3.35 lakh in 2003-04, 1,535 bicycles at Rs29,42,620 in 2004-05 and 1,235 bicycles at Rs41 lakh in 2005-06.

In the last six years, PCMC had purchased almost 14,000 bicycles and spend Rs3.55 crore on the initiative.

As the municipal elections are round the corner, the standing committee has given its nod for distributing 4,000 bicycle.

PCMC had invited tenders from companies and Modern Cycle in Chinchwad agreed to provide it at Rs 3,519 apiece.

The administration had requested to revise the price, but the firm reduced it by just Rs36 per bicycle.

Finally, the members approved the resolution to purchase bicycles from the same firm.

Meanwhile, though the civic body had distributed over 14,000 bicycles, it was not visible on roads, forcing taxpayers to suspect the plan’s success.