In May this year, cycling enthusiast Anand Vanjape started 'Pedal Mission' to donate used cycles so that people in remote and rural areas can easily go from one place to another. Three months in, the initiative has already refurbished and handed over 500 such cycles
After the pandemic derailed plans to start Pedal Mission last year, Anand Vanjape took up the task of actively donating bicycles to needy people from May 2021. Photo Courtesy: Anand Vanjape
Anand Vanjape has been an avid cyclist for over 10 years now and has been encouraging people in Pune to take up the activity for its various health benefits ever since. However, it was a chance encounter in 2019 that pushed him to take this passion for pedalling to an altruistic level. In May 2021, he started ‘Pedal Mission’, an initiative aimed at donating refurbished cycles to those who cannot afford transportation. “Pedal Mission is refurbishing not-in-use old bicycles, which are collected from different housing societies in Pune, Panvel and Mumbai and given to the needy people in slums or tribal areas, on a first-come-first-serve basis,” Vanjape, a freelance commercial designer, explains.
In less than three months, the Kothrud resident — who used to run a cycle shop from 2016 to 2020 — has already collected more than 300 bicycles in Pune and 56 in Panvel. In total, he has donated some 500 used, spruced up bicycles. Students in rural areas and daily wage workers are among those who have been benefiting from the initiative.
Anand Vanjape has donated around 500 bicycles since he started collecting them from different parts of Pune, Panvel and Mumbai. Photo Courtesy: Anand Vanjape
Cycling for the cash-strapped
Vanjape isn’t approaching the project as a short ride, he has his eyes set on the long-distance race instead. The path for this was laid in 2019 when a father and daughter visited his cycle shop, hoping to sell an old bicycle and buy a new one. “I told them we did not pay for old cycles but convinced them to donate theirs to me. Someone who needed it picked it up the very next day. It was meant to be,” says Vanjape.
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Soon after the incident, he realised there were likely many others looking to give away bicycles. It led him to encourage people to donate to him regularly. The cycles were kept outside his cycle shop and anybody who wanted to take one for their use for free could do it. He had planned back then to extend help to areas beyond Pune but that came to an abrupt halt with the pandemic and subsequent lockdowns. This May, he was able to resume riding slowly towards that goal.
“I appeal to people to donate the bicycles by collaborating with the Rotary Clubs, Lion’s Club, political parties, Ganpati mandals and social organisations. They not only send me the bicycles but also donate money for the cause. These donations cover the basic cost of repairing the cycles before they are given away to people,” he says, explaining his process. “I have a transporter who has been helping me during my rides, who has volunteered to help me with picking up the donated bicycles, especially if they are far away. A couple of local workers help with cleaning and fixing the cycles,” he explains.
Amaira Bansal, a 9-year-old Punekar, donated her old bicycle to Pedal Mission and has also created a poster to encourage people in her colony to donate towards the cause. Photo Courtesy: Priyambda Bansal
From Pune to Mumbai
Being a Rotary Club member, he has been getting active support from the Rotary Club of Lokmanya Nagar, which helps him manage the donations he receives, as well as the Rotary Club of Beed. The initiative has grown popular enough that Vanjape has picked up cycles from all over Pune and even parts of Panvel and Mumbai. “A donor living in a Lower Parel society reached out to me after he saw a tweet and told me he wanted to give me a few bicycles and help the cause with funds,” says the cyclist, who had won an award called 'Cycle Veer Samman’ from the Pune Municipal Corporation in 2019 for promoting cycling and its benefits.
A Pune politician, who has already donated 150 bicycles with the help of Vanjape, has asked the Kothrud resident to help him with 100 more to help the needy people in his area. A village sarpanch has also sent him a letter for 20 bicycles. “A construction worker who got a cycle from us is able to travel to his workplace far away. A newspaper vendor, who earns Rs 50 per day, had to pay Rs 30 per day to rent a bicycle but is now able to do it for free,” he mentions.
The cyclist has not only managed to inspire adults but also children. Amaira Bansal, a 9-year-old girl from Hadapsar in Pune, was inspired by the idea of Pedal Mission as soon as her mother told her about it. “Amaira had to do a project about protecting the ecosystem in her school and was asked to choose between making a donation, recycling or planting more trees,” says mother Priyambda Bansal. “I knew about Anand’s initiative and since my daughter had an old bicycle, I asked her if she would like to donate it or prefer to recycle or plant trees instead. Since Amaira had already planted trees, she decided to donate her bicycle.” The young girl donated the bicycle two days ago but she did not stop there — she also made posters to stick on the notice board in her colony, encouraging others to donate to Vanjape.
This is only just the start, according to Vanjape. He plans on connecting with the state government to get as much data as he can to help find those in need of bicycles for transportation. He also uses his Marathi YouTube channel to educate people about cycling. Vanjape, who hopes his Pedal Mission will inspire others in different parts of India to start their own cycle donation initiatives, concludes: “I believe every house in India should have a bicycle.”
Those who want to donate can contact Anand Vanjape on +91 9890998644
Also Read: After a dry spell in the pandemic, what's the future of trekking around Mumbai?
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