In a significant education push embedded in Delhi’s Budget 2026-27, presented by Chief Minister and Finance Minister Rekha Gupta in the Delhi Assembly on Tuesday, 24 March, the government announced free bicycles for all Class 9 girls enrolled in government schools, with ₹90 crore allocated for the scheme set to benefit about 1.30 lakh students.
The top about1,200 meritorious Class 11 students selected on the basis of their Class 10 board results, will receive free high-performance laptops under the Mukhyamantri Digital Shiksha Yojana, while the government is continuing its phased rollout of smart classrooms across the city.
The education sector has been allocated ₹19,148 crore for 2026-27. The announcements come as Delhi’s BJP-led government presents its second successive budget, described this year as a “green budget” with a focus on equity, inclusion and the modernisation of public schooling.
Wheels, Screens And A Seat At The Table
The bicycle scheme directly addresses one of the most persistent barriers to girls’ secondary education, the daily challenge of getting to school safely and affordably. For many families in Delhi’s lower-income neighbourhoods, the cost and safety concerns around commuting remain a significant deterrent to keeping daughters enrolled beyond Class 8. By providing bicycles to every Class 9 girl in a government school, the administration is making a tangible, ground-level intervention.
On the digital front, Education and Sports Minister Ashish Sood has stated that the laptop initiative “aims to encourage academic excellence and support students in their higher education efforts,” with recipients selected on the basis of their Class 10 board performance. The laptops are high-specification devices fitted with Intel i7 processors. Under the government’s broader digital infrastructure drive, 175 computer labs are being set up in the first phase across 544 schools in 350 buildings, with priority given to those running double shifts followed by another 175 labs in 2026-27.
Building On A Year Of Education Reform
These announcements build on a series of education-related decisions made during the past year. The Mukhyamantri Digital Shiksha Yojana was formally approved in a Cabinet meeting chaired by CM Rekha Gupta on 22 July 2025, with about, ₹7.5 crore earmarked for the procurement of laptops for the current cohort of 1,200 students and the scheme is designed to be repeated annually. The 2026-27 Budget now reinforces and extends this commitment. The government has also announced 100 new language laboratories named after Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, aimed at developing multilingual skills across government schools.
Meanwhile, AAP, which had previously championed Delhi’s education model, has been a persistent critic of the BJP’s approach to public school funding, with Leader of Opposition Atishi having previously accused the ruling party of reducing the education budget to its lowest share in a decade and harbouring an “agenda to destroy government schools.” The government, for its part, maintains it is charting a new course. CM Gupta has stated: “This budget will not only strengthen infrastructure, but will also become a means to elevate the living standards of Delhiites.”
The Logical Indian’s Perspective
A bicycle can change a girl’s life. It sounds simple, almost too simple but the evidence from states like Bihar and Jharkhand has shown time and again that when a girl can get to school on her own terms, she is more likely to stay there. The free bicycle scheme is not charity; it is the government acknowledging that a girl’s right to education is incomplete without the means to exercise it.
Similarly, a laptop in the hands of a meritorious student from a government school is a quiet act of levelling a reminder that talent does not belong exclusively to those who can afford private schooling. The phased rollout of smart classrooms signals that the aspiration for quality public education is alive and crucially, being funded.
These measures, if implemented transparently and efficiently, have the potential to reshape what it means to study in a Delhi government school. But good policy on paper must translate to reality in every classroom, for every girl waiting for her bicycle.
Also Read: Digital Detox Policy: Karnataka Proposes 1-Hour Daily Screen Time Limit for Students
ये खर्चा नहीं, ये निवेश है, हर छात्र और हर शिक्षक के सपनों में निवेश, और स्कूलों के बेहतर निर्माण व विस्तार के लिए ₹475 करोड़ का प्रावधान।@gupta_rekha @dpradhanbjp @blsanthosh pic.twitter.com/O5W9dMWOir
— Ashish Sood (@ashishsood_bjp) March 24, 2026
