The government will not hesitate in removing officers, who are not performing and acting like “dead assets”, Union road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari issued a stern warning on Monday.
The Union minister was speaking at the road safety stakeholders meeting during the 31st National Road Safety Week.
“Those non-productive, non-performing, dead assets in the government … should be shown the exit door. There should not be any hesitation,” Gadkari said.
“They lack sensitivity, they lack decision making, they make wrong DPRs (Detail Project Reports) and sit on the file for years. They neither make decisions nor allow others to make decisions… There is a limit to testing one’s patience,” he said.
“We can not allow this to function. The government needs to take instant decisions. Those who do not work, those who do not take decisions and those who are involved in red-tapism… will be shown the exit,” he said.
The Union road minister said the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act, 2019, is aimed at prioritising the safety of people on the road as he pointed out that India’s youth is the most affected community in the road accidents with 65% of the victims belonging to the age group of 18-35 years.
According to the World Road Statistics, India recorded the highest number of road accident deaths across 199 countries in 2018 followed by China and the US. Almost 11% of accident-related deaths in the world are attributed to India, says WHO Global Report on Road Safety 2018.
“In India, nearly 1.5 lakh people lose their lives in road accidents yearly and a lot more get injured. We need to create awareness among the people on issues pertaining to road safety,” defence minister Rajnath Singh, who also attended the meet, said.
“The enactment of Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act, 2019, is one of the most important reforms done in recent years that will play a vital role in the reduction of road accidents,” Singh added.
The transport ministry also launched a new database—Integrated Road Accident Database (IRAD)—to enable states and the Centre to comprehend information related to road accidents.
The database management system, developed by Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, and National Informatics Center (NIC) with the support of World Bank, analyses the root cause of road accidents and will develop and implement “data-led” road safety interventions to reduce accidents.
“Accident database is the first step towards achieving scientific road safety management. An ideal database needs to be comprehensive so as to meet not only the statistical requirements but also assist in planning accident reduction measures,” Gadkari said.
IRAD can collect data across the country on roads like the National Highways, state highways and city roads among others.
“IRAD will be a comprehensive web-based IT solution and will enable various agencies such as the police, PWDs, NHAI etc. to enter details on a road accident from different perspectives such as investigation, road engineering, vehicle condition etc,” Gadkari said.
Authorities will be able to run analysis and understand the dynamics of road accidents in India, which will help them launch targeted measures to improve road safety in India.
IRAD will be initially launched in the six states which have the highest number of road fatalities, such as Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh.
The “District Road Safety Committee” has been reconstituted as “Members of Parliament’s Road Safety Committee” to enforce measures and promote awareness among road users, Gadkari said.
