Delhi govt hands out 432 bicycles to Class 9 girls under Vidya Vahini Yojana

Delhi Education Minister Ashish Sood on Tuesday distributed 432 bicycles to Class 9 girl students under the Vidya Vahini Yojana, saying the scheme is meant to promote independence and confidence among students. He said around 26,000 bicycles had been distributed across Delhi since the scheme was launched on July 31, 2026.Sood also said the focus of education should go beyond marks and report cards to include students' confidence, communication skills and understanding of their subjects. He highlighted the expansion of digital infrastructure and modern learning facilities in government schools, and urged students to make full use of them.At the programme in Janakpuri, the minister encouraged parents to allow their daughters to ride bicycles and become independent. He said the bicycles would help students build confidence and learn to take responsibility for themselves.He also spoke about improvements in government school infrastructure, saying facilities such as smart classrooms, digital libraries and language laboratories were being introduced to give students modern learning opportunities. According to him, 255 smart classrooms, two digital libraries, four information and communication technology labs and five language labs have been set up in the Janakpuri constituency.Sood said 9,000 smart boards and 20,000 computers had been installed in Delhi government schools this year, with plans to add a similar number in the next financial year. He added that students were also being taught languages such as French, German, Spanish, Sanskrit and Kannada, stressing the importance of multilingual learning.Addressing the students, Sood said they would play an important role in achieving the vision of Viksit Bharat by 2047. \He asked them to use digital learning tools, libraries and career counselling facilities to develop their skills, while reiterating that the bicycle scheme and new school facilities were aimed at helping them become more confident and better prepared.- Ends