Madurai: State Finance Minister Palanivel Thiaga Rajan distributed free bicycles to students at St Britto School in the city on Thursday.

He said that the prices of bicycles have shot up due to the cost of raw materials and the number of students studying in aided and government schools has increased due to the pandemic effect. Yet, the state government managed to provide bicycles to them ahead of schedule because that is the identity of DMK rule. The government will bring down the revenue deficit in spite of all the challenges, he said.