Cycling for education of the girl-child

18 employees of a bank to pedal for 1,000 km to raise money for the cause

The team of cyclists pedalling for a cause on the eve of the launch of their programme in Hyderabad on Monday.

A group of 18 employees of a private bank will cycle 1,000 kilometres as part of an awareness drive to raise money for educating 549 students in a school located in Rasoolpura.

The team, two of whom hail from Hyderabad, will cover Kurnool, Tirupati, Ongloe and Vijayawada in 10 days. At Tirupati, the cyclists will rest for a day. The cyclothon organised by IIM-Ahmedabad Alumni Association, Hyderabad, and RBL Bank will take off from the city on Tuesday morning. The cyclothon is expected to create awareness about education of the girl-child.

Lead cyclist of the team, Jasmeet S. Gandhi, said they would cover 120 km to 130 km per day. “The team will start at 6.30 am each day and cycle till 5 pm. Cycling after dark is not advisable because of the poor condition of roads which are accident-prone,” Mr. Gandhi told The Hindu.

Employees of RBL bank said they were looking forward to the experience as it would make them fitter even as they uphold a good cause. “I lost three kilos of weight in seven days after I started training for the event. Besides, I don’t know of anyone who has cycled for 1,000 kilometres and I am I hoping this will be an event I will remember for the rest of my life,” said Zaheer Khan, vice-president, Human Resource, who head the south zone of the bank.

Another participant, who heads the collection strategy team of RBL, — Harshvardhan Sharma — said he was enthused by cycling for a good cause. “I hail from Sherpur, a small village in Uttar Pradesh; so I can relate with the children studying in this school. I am glad to do this for them,” said Mr. Sharma, adding that he had been a cycling enthusiast for three years.

Funds mobilised for the event would help run Udbhav school where students from underprivileged backgrounds study. IIM-A alumni association’s Hyderabad chapter took up the responsibility of running the school four years ago after its previous owner had decided to shut it down, owing to lack of funds.

The association is currently raising a corpus fund of ₹6 crore to keep the school going. Of the required amount, ₹3.5 crore was raised by 2016 with ₹81 Lakh mobilised during a similar cyclothon done by RBL employees from Mumbai to Hyderabad. Speaking to The Hindu , Rajeev Ahuja, Executive Director of RBL Bank, said, “The event is also about creating a positive vibe among employees and inspiring them to participate in events for such causes”.