Nibha Kumari, a resident of Bihar, India’s poorest state, recalls how a bicycle profoundly impacted her life at 15.
For two years, Kumari cycled a bicycle provided by the state government for two hours daily, six days a week, from her home to school and coaching classes.
“If I didn’t have a cycle, I wouldn’t have finished high school. It changed my life,” said Kumari, now 27.
Born to a farmer in the Begusarai district, Kumari initially lived with her aunt 10 kilometres away to attend primary school. With limited mobility options and unreliable public transport, the bicycle became crucial for her education.
“Girls have gained a lot of confidence after using bicycles to go to schools and coaching classes. More and more of them are going to school now. Most of them have free bicycles,” said Bhuvaneshwari Kumari, a health worker in Begusarai.
A recent study published in the Journal of Transport Geography highlights the significant rise in cycling among rural girls in India.
Srishti Agrawal, Adit Seth, and Rahul Goel’s research found that cycling among rural girls more than doubled from 4.5% in 2007 to 11% in 2017, narrowing the gender gap in this activity.
“This is a silent revolution,” said Agrawal. “We call it a revolution because cycling levels increased among girls in a country with high levels of gender inequality in terms of female mobility outside the home, particularly for cycling.”
Since 2004, state-run schemes providing free bicycles to girls have aimed to address higher school dropout rates among girls due to household chores and long commutes. This initiative mirrors similar programs in countries like Colombia, Kenya, Malawi, and Zimbabwe but on an unparalleled scale in India.
The researchers, from Delhi’s Indian Institute of Technology and Mumbai’s Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies, analyzed data from a nationwide education survey. They assessed the effectiveness of state-run schemes and their influence on cycling rates.
The study revealed that the proportion of all students cycling to school increased from 6.6% in 2007 to 11.2% in 2017. Cycling rates in rural areas doubled over the decade, while urban rates remained static.
Urban cycling faces challenges due to unsafe city roads and heavy traffic.
The growth in cycling is most pronounced in rural states like Bihar, West Bengal, Assam, and Chhattisgarh, where cycling over longer distances is more common compared to urban areas.
The 2011 Census was the first to report cycling behaviour in India, indicating that 20% of people commuting outside their homes used bicycles. Rates were higher in rural areas (21%) than in cities (17%). Additionally, more working men (21.7%) cycled to work than women (4.7%).
“Compared to international settings, this level of gender gap in cycling is among the highest in the world,” Agrawal noted.
American suffragist Susan B. Anthony once remarked that the bicycle had done more to emancipate women than anything else, offering freedom and self-reliance. Researchers now question whether women’s cycling rates decline with age due to reduced job opportunities and workforce dropout.
Kumari stopped cycling after marriage and moved to her in-laws’ home. She now relies on other modes of transport as she trains to become a teacher. When asked about her commute, she said, “I don’t need the cycle anymore.”
