COIMBATORE: Class 11 students of the Government Higher Secondary School in Ondipudur who received free bicycles on Saturday are upset as the spare parts on them have not been properly fitted or were defective.
Teachers alleged that free bicycles are provided every year in the same condition, forcing students to push them to nearby bicycle repair shops to fix the defects.
In all, 117 students received bicycles during the distribution ceremony held at the Ondipudur school. Coimbatore MP Ganapathi P Rajkumar, District Collector Pavankumar G Giriyappanavar, and others participated.
Sources say the distribution of bicycles to students began at Ondipudur school, one of the nodal centres in the Coimbatore education district, on Saturday. Bicycles with fitting issues were distributed in eight schools, including at Kallapalayam and Peedampalli, benefiting 869 students. The distribution in other schools will begin in the coming week.
When the TNIE visited the Ondipudur school, several bicycles were found to have defects such as airless tyres, missing inner tube valves, improperly fitted brakes, non-functional bells, and bent wheel rims.
As a result, students were forced to push their bicycles to nearby repair shops to fill the tyres with air and fix inner tube valves to cycle, spending between Rs 20 and Rs 50.
A student, P Sekar (name changed), told TNIE that students had expected the bicycle to be in good condition but were disappointed seeing the improperly fitted spare parts.
He said the inner tube valve was missing and the handlebar was not properly aligned in his cycle.
When contacted, the contractor who handled the bicycle fitting work denied the allegation and told TNIE that after fitting, the bicycles were parked on the school ground for distribution.
"Some students damaged the bicycles by releasing air from the tyres and removing the inner tube valves. That is why this problem occurred," he said.
Refuting this claim, a teacher from the school told TNIE that the students had done nothing to the bicycles, which were kept inside a classroom. He doubted how the students could have released the air or removed the inner tube valves from a locked room.
He alleged that the given bicycles were of substandard quality and that the fitting of spare parts was done improperly.
When TNIE sought the Collector's comment on these allegations, he declined to speak about the issue on the school premises.
* Class 11 beneficiaries in Coimbatore: 17,782
* High and high secondary schools in Coimbatore: 151
* Boys bicycle basic price: Rs 4,375
* Girls bicycles basic price: Rs 4,250
