Road Safety Awards

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways and The Ministry of Urban Development Government of India held the road safety awards on the occasion of the 26th Road Safety Week to felicitate those states which had shown good results in Road Safety. Nitin Gadkari, Minister of Transport, awarded memorabilia and cash prizes to all the winners. Present on the evening were many high profile dignitaries including Mr. K. K. Kapila, Chairman of International Road Federation (IRF), Vijay Chhibber, Secretary ,Ministry of Road Transport And Highways, Piyush Pandey, renowned advertiser and responsible for ‘Ache din aane walein hain’ slogan and Sanjay Bandopadhyaya, Joint Secretary of Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.

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Mr. K. K. Kapila, Chairman of IRF presenting his views

Mr. K.K. Kapila addressed the evening when he expressed his views regarding the importance of road safety. He said that road accident deaths are ranked at number 8 by the World Health Organisation (WHO) for the causes of death globally. If unchecked it has the potential to climb to number 5 in the near future. That was the basic premise when United Nations adopted a resolution called ‘The Decade of Action’ in 2010 which lead to the adoption of the plan based on five pillars of road safety i.e. management, safer roads and mobility, safer vehicles, safe road users and post-crash response. It was aimed at reducing the number of accidents by 50% by 2020. He also said that the Indian subcontinent fares very badly on the account of road safety. As the signatory to the United Nations Charter, India has the obligation to achieve the set target.

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Nitin Gadkari, Minister for Road Transport And Highways

The last half of the decade has been spent on conceiving and implementing. Road safety programmes are aptly supported by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. He congratulated the Ministry for the support. Towards the end he stressed on the importance of recognising the sensitivity of the issue and said, “Politicians must be made to think that this is an issue which they must address.” Identification of black spots, trauma care provisions and retro reflective tapes for non-motorised vehicles are some of the major steps taken towards road safety. Supreme Court has also played its part in the issue as it has made it mandatory for the doctors to attend to accident related cases and not wait for police verification etcetera. Now, there is also an introduction to road safety in the school curriculum to spread awareness.

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Piyush Pandey-responsible for all the advertisement campaign for BJP in General Election

Vijay Chhibber addressed the gathering after K.K. Kapila. He presented some staggering figures which reflected the magnanimity of the situation. Some 1.3 million deaths and 50 million injuries occur globally due to road accidents. It costs the world economy a very significant amount. He said that the figures are stark. The national context becomes even starker where approximately thirty thousand people die of road accident and a large number of people get injured. 3% of India’s GDP is impacted due to all that. He said, “We are in the midst of United Nations ‘Decade of Action’ and therefore it’s appropriate that we use this opportunity to revisit our situation and to see exactly what we have not been able to achieve in the last five years and therefore to set a robust agenda for the next five years.” He further added that unless the road safety is embedded in the development agenda it’s would be difficult to achieve the set target. He then shared some of the agenda and measures that the ministry have taken up.

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Sanjay Bandopadhyaya, Joint Secretary at Ministry of Road Transport and Highways

He said that the ministry has collaborated with the state government. The ministry have sent the new matrix developed by IRF in consultation with the World Bank which attempts to capture various causes and attempts to capture various geography in which those concerns are more manifested. All the steps taken will help the government and identify the states which are making progress vis-à-vis which are not. It is at the heart of a scientific approach to road safety. It would help the concerned authority to establish a database and to then put in the necessary corrective measures. The government is also in pursuit of a “completely new legal architecture” in the form of Road Safety and Transport Bill to replace the current Motor Vehicle Act. Public transport is at the heart of the agenda and two additional authorities will take this agenda forward. The government is putting money where it is required and hoping that the concerting actions come up with better results.

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Vijay Chhibber Secretary ,Ministry of Road Transport And Highways

Piyush Pandey, the man behind the famous Ache Din campaign was the following speaker and talked about how awareness plays a vital role in the course of road safety. He said that the youth of the country needs to be on board for this campaign. He said that the messaging should strike a chord with the people. It’s a bitter pill which should be coated in a sugary candy to achieve better results. Road safety is a way of life. He showed some of the advertisements which he thought were potent to a strike chord with the youth.

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G.D. Rama Rao accepting the awards for Andhra Pradesh

Mr. Nitin Gadkari then awarded the respective states for their efforts which have led to better results in Road Safety. The winner of the evening for showing commendable results were Andhra Pradesh Road Transport Corporation, Rajasthan State Road Transport Corporation, Haryana State Transport, Odisha State Road Transport Corporation, Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation and Nagaland State Transport.

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Rajasthan State Road Transport Corporation getting the award

Nitin Gadkari, was the concluding speaker of the day. He shared his experiences and the will to succeed at the concerned cause. He said that he himself has suffered greatly due to road accidents and thus knows the importance of it. He had an accident which resulted in four fractures in his leg. He said that the Ministry is very sensitive towards the issue of road safety. The ministry has taken many steps to rectify the causes and it is in the interest of the nation to have a robust road safety framework. The cost of road accident is estimated to be 55000 crore. This money could be used for better things. He said that there are various factors which lead to an accident. The issue of fake driving licences is a major concern. India ranks number one in the issuance of fake driving licences. The new Motor Vehicle Act addresses this particular concern. He further shared his Ministry’s vision to open Driving Training Institute which serves the purpose of safe driving as well as employment for the youth. The centre is in talks with the state government to set up these Institutes. He then also said that his home constituency, Nagpur, has developed vehicles which runs on bio fuel and that will lead the way to better transport in the country. A strong political will is needed to tackle all the issues and he is doing everything on his part.

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