LUCKNOW, Nov. 4 -- Around 30,000 meritorious girl students in Uttar Pradesh are likely to receive free scooters from next month in phases under the state government's Rani Lakshmibai Scooty Yojana, a women empowerment initiative ahead of the 2027 Assembly polls.

The number of beneficiaries has been reduced from the initially proposed 50,000 after the government decided to restrict the benefit to the top 5% of female students in each university and college, officials said.

The Uttar Pradesh Cabinet had approved the scheme on July 21, with the objective of providing free scooters to meritorious female students pursuing undergraduate courses. The beneficiaries must be natives of Uttar Pradesh, said higher education minister Yogendra Upadhy...