[sustran] Bicycles and girls education

[Ashok Sreenivas]

Excerpt from an article (
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/a-mandate-for-nitish-hope-kumar/714282/0)
totally unrelated to transport (it is about the results of the Bihar
elections expected on Wednesday):

"So, come on a drive with me to Bihar and I will show you a sight to
cherish, one to light up your eyes, cheer your saddest, darkest hour, put a
bounce in your step and, most of all, convince you once again that there is
hope even for the worst governed, the most neglected parts of our country.
It is the young girls, dozens and dozens and scores and scores of them,
often in school uniforms, riding bicycles on the state’s new roads. Don’t
miss the link between the roads, bicycles, uniforms, and the result this
coming Wednesday. Nitish decided to attack the problem of low enrolment and
large dropout rates for his state’s girls by offering a free bicycle to any
girl moving to class nine. Four lakh bicycles have been distributed so far,
and you already see a revolution of sorts on the wheels. Meanwhile, his high
school enrolment for women has trebled."

Ashok