After polls, it?s time to keep promises. Uttar Pradesh?s Akhilesh Yadav government has decided to float a global tender to buy two lakh motorised rickshaws for the state?s rickshaw-pullers, a promise the Samajwadi Party had made in its election manifesto. The state cabinet has allocated R270 crore in the forthcoming budget for the same.
Apart from leading automobile companies like Hero MotoCorp, Bajaj and Mahindra, ailing public sector company Scooters India and some international firms are believed to be in touch with the government, expressing interest to build rickshaws powered by batteries or solar power.
The government is also working overtime to fulfill another poll promise: laptops and tablets for students clearing their Class 10 and 12 examinations. While technical specifications and modalities for procuring and distributing the gadgets are being worked out, official sources said the budget will have adequate allocations for this too. ?Procurement will be done through global tendering. The bidder who quotes the lowest price for the pre-determined configuration will be given the work,? said a senior government official.
A ruling party legislator told FE that while the government is trying to get battery-operated rickshaws, solar-powered models are being considered as well. ?If we go for solar rickshaws, we will ensure free charging stations at various places so rickshaw pullers do not face problems,? he said. While these rickshaws will be distributed free of cost, the government will bear the maintenance costs, he added.
As in the case of the unemployment allowance, which the UP government will start distributing every quarter from July 1, all rickshaw pullers in the state who have registered themselves at the municipal corporations till March 15, the day the state government took charge, will be eligible for motorised rickshaws.
?We will try to distribute these rickshaws in capital Lucknow and the smaller towns in the first phase and take it to other cities in the next,? he said, adding the Sustainable Urban Development Association will coordinate the distribution. ?The Samajwadi Party wants to gradually phase out manual rickshaws because we want to lift the rickshaw-pullers out of poverty and instil a sense of self respect in them. We want to completely do away with manual rickshaws in the state in a phased manner, as apart from being a severe drain on a person’s health and leads to tuberculosis, it is a shame for anyone to ride atop another human. It is the responsibility of a civilised society to uplift the downtrodden sections by giving them certain benefits,? said the MLA.
It may be added that the Samajwadi Party is trying to give shape to all its poll promises, including unemployment allowance, distribution of laptops and tablets and rickshaws. Unemployment allowance of Rs 1,000 to the nine lakh unemployed persons registered till March 15 is likely to cost the state exchequer approximately Rs 1,100 crore. The allocation made for the laptops and tablets, however, could not be ascertained.