MoST wakes up after Pilot’s death

NEW DELHI, JUNE 29: It took the death of senior Congress leader Rajesh Pilot for the Government to realise the need for road safety. In a ...

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NEW DELHI, JUNE 29: It took the death of senior Congress leader Rajesh Pilot for the Government to realise the need for road safety. In a knee-jerk reaction, the Ministry of Surface Transport has decided to set up a unified authority on road safety, comprising various states and the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI).

Nearly one lakh people are killed in road accidents in the country every year. Another three lakh are injured or lose their limbs. “But it needed a VIP to die in a road accident for the Government to wake up. Indian roads are the biggest killers in the country. They claim more lives than dreaded diseases like cancer and AIDS,” said a senior ministry official. The accident of Rajesh Pilot has been attributed to “poor condition” of the road.

Ironically, the particular stretch between Jaipur and Dausa where Pilot met with the fatal accident is notorious for car crashes. And yet, neither the State Government nor the Centre had thought of improving it. As per all-India figures, the state of Maharashtra accounts for maximum number of road accidents — as many as 75,000 every year. Among the metros too, it is Mumbai which has maximum number of 30,000 accidents.

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Rajnath Singh, Union Minister for Surface Transport, today said that apart from setting up the unified authority, he was also going to reconstitute the committee on road safety within a week. The Ministry has a permanent committee on road safety which is to be reconstituted every three years. However, sources said that the committee had been defunct for nearly a decade.

The Ministry also has a special Road Safety Cell, the task of which has been reduced to merely collecting and compiling data on road accidents in the country. “The cell was originally formed to review the road safety scenario based on analysis of the data and suggest measures for improvement. Not just that, but also to ensure that its recommendations were being implemented. The cell has been doing precious little,” disclosed an official.

The issue of road safety has been overlooked by both, the Ministry at the Centre, and also the various state governments. “The state governments always take the plea that they don’t have enough money to construct roads or even improve the condition of existing ones. The Ministry, on the other hand, conveniently washes its hands of saying it’s not their problem,” the official said. The Ministry is only responsible for the upkeep of national highways.

Singh said that he was planning to change all this, and had even offered any kind of help — financial or technical — to the state transport ministers to improve the condition of roads. “Issue of road safety will be given top priority now,” he assured.