New Delhi: Road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari on Monday flagged off Road Safety Month where he highlighted the government’s commitment towards safety. In his address, Gadkari said, “Till now, we have been observing National Road Safety Week, but from today we will observe national Road Safety Month. Seventy percent of the death are in the age group of 18-45 years.
“There is a need to save lives in India where 415 people are dying every day due to road accidents,” he added. Gadkari said that last year, the Indian government had participated in a conference in Sweden, where a vision was conceptualized – to have zero road fatalities in India by 2030.
“We had promised to reduce such fatalities by 50 percent. Tamil Nadu has done it, with a success rate of 53 percent. If we wait till 2030, 6-7 lakh more people will die. So, we’ve committed that before 2025, road accidents and deaths due to it will be brought down by 50 percent with the help of people’s participation,” Gadkari said.
Defense minister Rajnath Singh, Union minister VK Singh and chief executive officer (CEO) of Niti Aayog Amitabh Kant were also present on this occasion.
He also called for cooperation among government departments, NGOs, and other organizations to ensure awareness about road safety is spread. He also gave details about his ministry has increased the target of per day construction of roads. “We have achieved the target of constructing 30 kilometers of road, I believe that by the end of March, perhaps we will achieve the target of constructing 40 kilometers of road per day,” the Union minister said.