Will it work? Chandigarh MC’s cycle-to-work plan could go off track, many employees say they’ll walk
A woman superintendent, Joginder walia, who cannot cycle and also does not own a bicycle plans to walk to work from her home in Sector 23.
The municipal corporation’s (MC) cycle to work initiative from Wednesday, March 7, is likely to get derailed as many employees this correspondent spoke to, including officers, say they do not own bicycles and plan to walk.
Public transport was another option for some, including women, who said they had bicycles at home but were not cyclists. MC commissioner Jitender Yadav had on Monday made it mandatory for employees to cycle to work on Wednesdays to ensure they stayed healthy and to decongest traffic.
A woman superintendent, Joginder walia, who cannot cycle and also does not own a bicycle plans to walk to work from her home in Sector 23.
MC Employees’ Union president Ajit Singh also said that many employees who did not have cycles at home would be using public transport such as CTU buses to commute. Kuldeep Singh, executive engineer, electrical, who lives in Sector 20, will be riding a cycle (his son owns one) after 30 years.
A senior official of the accounts department on the condition of anonymity said many employees were likely to bypass the order by park their vehicles in the parking lots of Sector 17 and walk to office. Their family members were likely to drop them too. It was not possible to cycle to work each Wednesday, he said.
However, one MC official who showed great enthusiasm for the initiative was Sector 7 resident and additional commissioner Saurabh Mishra, who was earlier planning to walk to office. On Tuesday he borrowed a bicycle from commissioner Yadav, who owns several, to go to work and also plans to cycle to a video conference on Swachh Bharat in Sector 9.
The success of the initiative depends on how efficient the HODs of various MC departments are in complying with the MC commissioner’s order to submit employee compliance reports.
