Oppn stages walk out in MP Assly over bicycles scam

Bhopal, Mar 3 (UNI) The entire Opposition led by the Congress today staged a walk out in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly alleging a scam in the distribution of bicycles to girl students in government schools.

School Education Minister Gaurishankar Shejwar denied the charges and claimed that payments to concerned company had been halted in cases where distributed cycles were found to be of sub-standard quality.

According to rules, he said, the concerned company was required to take cycle parts to a village and assemble it there. In some cases, cycle parts were not fixed properly and were found to be of sub-standard quality. Payments were stopped in such cases.

Raising the matter during the Question Hour, Mr Indrajeet Kumar (Congress) said sub-standard quality bicycles were distributed to girls across the state. Alleging corruption, he cited a government report that mentioned that faults had been detected in 15 bicycles.

Amid the reply of the minister and Mr Kumar putting up supplementary questions, several members started speaking.

Leader of Opposition Jamuna Devi alleged that a scam in bicycle distribution has taken place. She said cycle parts had been brought from China and assembled. This amounted to cheating with girl students.

Later, members of the SP, the Gondwana Ganatantra Party and other Opposition members led by the Congress staged a walk out.

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