Delhi's bid to clean air wins Canadian admirer

 Jennifer Graham, wife of Canadian High Commissioner in India, said that everybody has a right to clean air and efforts need to made to improve.

At an event to donate bicycles to schoolgirls, she said bicycles as a mode of transport are important as each one of them takes off one vehicle from the road.

“Education is a right of all girls and basic requirement for empowerment,” said Graham, appreciating project Umang of NGOs Aarohan and United Way.

As many as 150 school girls were donated bicycles under the project aimed at empowerment of adolescent girls through education, life skills and livelihood.

Students excited
Fatimah, a class 12 student in Malviya Nagar government school, was excited about her new set of wheels.

“I will reach school and home fast,” she said, adding that earlier she was forced to walk a long distance.

Ruchi, a class 9 student, also is looking forward to use the cycle. “I will not need my brother’s help to reach school now,” she said.

Aarohan founder Rani Patel said: The purpose of distributing cycles is not just to make the travel to school easy, but also to contribute to the fight pollution. We can support the Delhi government’s odd-even scheme also.”

Lack of transport and long distance from home are some of the reasons that force girls to drop out of schools, she said.