LUCKNOW, Nov. 5 -- 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 Upadhyay. A two-wheeler company that won the bid has been asked to keep the stock ready for distribution anytime after November 25. The scheme was one of the key promises made by the BJP during the 2022 Assembly elections. The higher education department confirmed that two major two-wheeler companies participated in the bidding process, which was conducted in two rounds. The first involved scrutiny of technical specifications, while the second dealt with financial bids. "Each scooty will cost approximately Rs 67,000, including registration, five years of insurance, accessories, a helmet, and five litres of petrol," higher education (Prayagraj) director Monika Singh said over the phone. The department is preparing the final list of eligible beneficiaries. According to officials, Ambedkar Nagar is likely to have the highest number of beneficiaries among all districts. Officials have also kept a provision to increase or decrease the number of scooters by up to 25% to accommodate changes in the number of eligible students. A further revision beyond this limit is also possible, if required. Chief minister Yogi Adityanath referred to the scheme during the International Women's Day celebrations on March 8 this year and emphasised the early distribution of scooters to meritorious girl students.The state government earmarked Rs 400 crore for the scheme in the Budget presented on February 20, 2025. htc...