Concerned about the rise in accidents on the highways, the ministry of road transport and highways (MoRTH) has proposed to make the installation of safety devices mandatory for all heavy vehicles.
Minister of road transport and highways Nitin Gadkari has said that MoRTH will soon finalise a draft notification for mandatory installation of Electronic Stability Control System, Emergency Braking System, and Driver Drowsiness Alert and Safety System on heavy commercial vehicles.
These systems will ensure better safety on highways as about 33,000 people out of 172,000 people (2023 data from MoRTH) have been killed on Indian roads by trucks as impacting vehicles.
Gadkari said that the issue came up for discussion at the two-day workshop of MoRTH with state transport ministers and secretaries in the capital that concluded on Tuesday. The day concluded with the 42nd Transport Development Council (TDC) meeting where suggestions from the country’s transport organizations were also deliberated upon.
Gadkari said that as part of its exercise to make roads safer, the ministry has also come out with a new ₹4,500 crore centrally funded scheme for setting up of driving training centres and automated testing clusters across the country.
“There is shortage of 22 lakh skilled drivers in the country and through the policy, the government will ensure that properly trained drivers meet the requirement for the transport sector. The driver training centres would provide employment opportunity for about 50 lakh people. In two years about 1,250 such training and fitness centres would come up in different parts of the country,” the minister said.
Under the policy, the Union government will provide grant of ₹17.25 crore for each centre in tier-I cities, ₹5.5 crore grant for tier 2 cities and ₹2.5 crore grant for tier 3 towns. Land for these centres would be provided by the states.
Health care scheme for accident victims
Continuing with its drive to ensure safety on roads and ensure proper care of road accident victims, MoRTH also proposes a nationwide launch of a health care scheme that will provide cashless treatment to road accident victims in the golden hour after an accident.
The scheme, which is being revised after launch of pilot in a few states over the last couple of years, will cover hospitalization expenses up to ₹1.5 lakh per accident per person. It will cover hospitalization for up to 7 days from date of the accident at all hospitals listed in the government’s Ayushman Bharat scheme. Hit and run victims will get ₹2 lakh compensation.
During the two-day workshop, issues relating to Expediting operationalization of Registered Vehicle Scrapping Facilities (RVSFs) and Automated Testing Stations (ATSs) by states, and standardization of audit requirements and ratings of scrapping centres were also discussed. The meeting discussed pan-India adoption of PUCC 2.0 or Pollution Under Control Certificate. Revised PUCC guidelines were presented to ensure that all states are onboarded on them at the earliest. It also discussed introduction of BS-VII norms and timelines for introduction of new norms, along with the expected reduction in pollution with the norms were also discussed.
Gadkari said that number of vehicle scrapping centres will cross 90 this year. Under the scrappage policy, certificates of vehicle scrapping will allow discounts on purchase of new vehicles and discounts even in taxes.
