Cycle Girl who carried dad for 1,200km gets PM award

DARBHANGA:

Jyoti Kumari

, the “Cycle Girl” who brought her injured father Mohan Paswan on a bicycle from Gurugram to her village Sirhulli 1200km away, in Bihar’s

Darbhanga

district, cycling for seven days during the Covid-induced lockdown in May last, was conferred the Pradhan Mantri Bal Puraskar by PM Narendra Modi on Monday.

Jyoti and 32 other children from across the country were awarded for their achievements at a virtual meeting chaired by Modi. She will get Rs 1 lakh, a citation and a medal. The Darbhanga district administration brought Jyoti and her parents from her village to the National Informatics Centre’s office at district headquarters here to participate in the virtual award ceremony.

Though Jyoti did not get a chance to directly interact with the PM due to time constraints, she claimed to have learned a lot from the experience and stories of other awardees.

“PM’s interaction with children has acted as encouragement for more success in life. As advised by the PM, I am determined to read the life history of one legendary figure each year,” Jyoti said. Jyoti’s father, Mohan, said her daughter learned a lot from the PM’s suggestions. “This event has glorified my family and village and people are expecting more brave actions from my daughter.” Meanwhile, Jyoti has also been chosen as a brand ambassador for the state government’s anti-drug abuse programme. “The district administration is providing all sorts of help for Jyoti’s education and will continue to do so in the future,” DM Thyagrajan SM said.