Friday, November 25, 2011

Bicycles open up new horizons for girls in India...

In Bihar, one of India's poorest and most populous states, half of the women and a quarter of the men are illiterate, and about 90% of its 104 million inhabitants live in rural areas. Life here is particularly difficult for girls, and one of the greatest hindrances to their development is the simple journey to school. For many, the trip is long, expensive and dangerous.

But here, in rural Bihar, we recently saw that a two-wheeled solution to the problem has been found.

Three years ago the state's new chief minister Nitish Kumar adopted a "gender agenda" and set about redressing his state's endemic gender imbalances in an attempt to boost development in one of India's most backward states. His vision was to bring a sense of independence and purpose to his state's young women, and the flagship initiative of this agenda is the Mukhyamantri Balika Cycle Yojna, a project that gives schoolgirls 2,000 rupees (about £25) to purchase a bicycle. Full story...

Don't miss:
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  2. "Ugly Indians" clean up Bangalore...
  3. The man who taught Indian villagers how to deal with money...
  4. 'Skype School' brings knowledge to remote Indian village...
  5. Meet the world's youngest headmaster, 16-year-old Babar Ali from India!
  6. For Zimbabwe's women, a bicycle can be a tool of liberation...

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