Ranchi: Free cycles will be distributed to Class 8 girl students in Jharkhand to check dropout rates in government schools, a minister said.

"All the girls studying in Class 8 will get free bicycles," state Human Resource Development (HRD) minister Hemlal Murmu said on Tuesday night while replying in the assembly on his department's budget for 2010-11.

Earlier, free cycles were provided to girls of tribal and Dalit families.

The move aims to encourage girls to study up to the secondary level. According to a state government report, the majority of girls in the state leave school after studying upto Class 5 or 6.

The literacy rate in the state is 54 percent against national average of 65 percent. The women's literacy rate is below 40 percent.

The minister also announced appointment of 48,410 primary school teachers. IANS