Press invitation- a unique Pedal Yatri event of the cyclists to promote cycling at Vice Presidents' House, 5th December, 11 am.

Press Invitation

Mr. Tarun Vijay, MP and Pedal Yatris, a cyclists' group, Gurgaon, (led by Mr Rajesh Kalra, Editor in Chief, The Times Internet ) invites you to Vice President's House, on 5th December, Monday, at 11 am, to kindly cover a unique event to promote cycling, as it has now become an urgent need to meet the key challenges faced by people living in Urban India- Hon'ble Vice President Shri Hamid Ansari, supports the idea. We shall also request the Vice President, who is also the Chairman, Rajya Sabha to kindly consider having a cycle stand for the MPs who would like to arrive in Parliament on cycles, the vehicle of the aam aadmi..

For passes we would need the names of the media persons covering the programme

immediately on email please.

While the Urban India has seen tremendous growth and development over last decade, the development has also brought 4 significant challenges namely Traffic Congestion, Life Style Diseases, Pollution and Daily Commuting Challenges for the majority of population living in Urban India. These challenges are only expected to multiply with time unless proper steps taken on an urgent basis.

Developed world has seen these challenges and many cities like New York, Amsterdam, London have now taken steps to promote Non-Motorized transportation (NMT) with special emphasis to promote Cycling as a mean to overcome these issues. The steps include creating cycle parking, cycle lanes, removing car infrastructure and making way for cycle infrastructure, promoting cycle sharing programs, integrating cycle sharing programs as a part of multi-modal transportation system etc. These efforts have resulted into measurable impact and as a testimony of success Hangzhou, China now boasts of 60,000 cycles cycle sharing program while Barclays Bank has sponsored cycle sharing program for the city of London at an investment of GBP $25 MM. In fact planning for cycle infrastructure is now an essential part of city planning in these developed countries.

In India, few social entrepreneurs have tried promoting cycling through creating cyclists groups like “Pedal Yatri”, through cycling advocacy organizations like “India Cycle Service” and through launching cycle sharing services in cities like Delhi, Pune, Bangalore and Mumbai over last few years. However, in absence of political willingness at the local governing bodies level, these efforts have seen very limited success so far. We have also found out, through focus groups and market research, that big majority of daily commuters are willing to shift to cycling provided there is cycle infrastructure. Therefore, we appeal to The Vice President of India to encourage cycling in Urban India and one way is to set up city level NMT cells with specific targets to promote cycling.

>>Any information/clarification, pl feel free to contact Mr Tarun Vijay at 9711254888<<




Tarun Vijay
Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha
Member, Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs
National Spokesperson, BJP
Hon. Director, Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee Research Foundation
(A centre for civilisational values and policy research)
11, Ashok Road,New Delhi
Telefax-011-23382569,23005714.email-tarunvijay2@yahoo.com. tarun.vijay@sansad.nic.in
website-tarunvijay.org, blog-tarun-vijay.blogspot.com