Faulty road construction should be made non-bailable offence: Nitin Gadkari
New Delhi, Jan 16 (PTI): Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari on Thursday said faulty road construction should be made a non-bailable offence and road contractors and engineers should be held responsible for accidents and punished.
Addressing an event organised by industry body CII, Gadkari further said India is number one in road accidents in the world.
"Faulty road construction should be a non-bailable offence and road contractors, concessionaires and engineers should be held responsible for accidents and sent to prison," he said.
The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways aims to reduce road accident fatalities to half by 2030.
According to the minister, the ministry data of road accidents in 2023 shows five lakh mishaps in the country resulting in 1,72,000 deaths.
"Of this, 66.4 per cent, or 1,14,000, were in the 18-45 years age bracket while 10,000 deaths were of children," Gadkari said.
He pointed out that 55,000 deaths were reported due to absence of helmets and 30,000 were due to non-use of seat belts.
Gadkari also said the highways ministry is spending Rs 40,000 crore to rectify black spots on highways.
He urged the industry and other stakeholders to partner with the government to set up driver training and fitness centres to address the acute shortage of drivers in the country.
Gadkari also said it has been decided that trucks in India should be fitted with driver fatigue and sleep-detection devices to improve road safety.
"In many other countries, drivers get down after driving for eight hours. Our drivers go on driving for up to 15-18 hours non-stop.
"We need to respond to these needs and be sensitive to drivers' fatigue for promoting road safety," he said.
The minister focused on the need to involve children from class 5 to class 11 in road safety promotion, and educate them, and make them road-safety ambassadors.
"In the auto sector, we have already brought reforms from the lens of road safety. Bharat NCAP Ratings have been brought to make sure compliance on the road safety from auto sector is there," he added.
"Road Engineers, and Road Developers need to focus on standards of road from the lens of road safety. We need to improve DPRs from road safety perspective," he said.
Safe Drivers need to be incentivised, the minister said.
"Penalising violations is only part of solution. Companies should study the pilot (project) in Nagpur on how good and safe drivers are being incentivised through goodies, discounts and coupons," Gadkari said.
Speaking at the event, Road Transport and Highways Secretary V Umashankar said road safety initiatives should be converted into a mass movement.
"Each accident point has its own story to tell, each black spot has its own story. We need to sensitise people at the district level," he said.
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Karnataka Muslim Convention to be held in Bengaluru on May 16
Muslim organisations to release report on Congress govt’s three-year performance
Bengaluru: Major Muslim organisations and federations in Karnataka have decided to organise a large public convention titled ‘Karnataka Muslim Convention’ at Town Hall in Bengaluru on May 16. During the convention, a comprehensive report reviewing the three-year performance of the Congress government under the theme “What did the Congress government promise? What did it do? What next?” will be released.
According to a statement issued on Friday, no politicians will be invited to the convention. The report will be submitted to the government and all MLAs after the event.
The convention is being held at a time when the Congress government is nearing the completion of three years in office on May 20. Muslim organisations have expressed dissatisfaction, alleging that despite extending strong support to the Congress in bringing it to power, the community is being neglected.
The Convention is being organised at time when there are concerns over inadequate political representation for Muslims, alleged neglect of community demands, and the suspension of senior Muslim leaders who had worked for the party for decades.
The organisers said the convention aims to raise questions on what the Congress government has delivered so far and what further steps are expected from the government.
The decision to hold the convention was taken during a meeting held on May 6 at A J International Hotel in Shivajinagar, Bengaluru. Representatives of major Muslim organisations, associations, ulema bodies, federations, and members of the ad hoc committee of Karnataka Rajya Muslim Okkoota attended the meeting.
More than 75 representatives and delegates, including senior ulemas, jamaat leaders, lawyers, retired officials, journalists and members of the KRMO ad hoc committee, participated in the discussions.
Members of the KRMO ad hoc committee’s report preparation team and experts from different sectors presented a detailed report on the Congress government’s three-year performance. The report examined promises made to Muslims on ten major issues, the extent to which they were fulfilled, pending promises, alleged discrimination in representation, and the demands now being placed before the government.
The report covered issues such as the hijab ban, reservation cancellation, hate speech and hate crimes, budget allocation, political representation, waqf matters, the anti-cow slaughter law, anti-conversion law, scholarships and educational grants.
Participants offered suggestions and recommendations on various points, and necessary corrections to the report were accepted after detailed discussions.
The meeting also reportedly expressed strong dissatisfaction over the manner in which the Congress government has treated the Muslim community. Participants are said to have opined that if the government and the Congress party continue in the same manner, the community should keep its political options open.
It was later decided that the report would be officially released at the large public convention on May 16 under the title “Karnataka Muslim Convention – What did the Congress government promise? What did it do? What next?”
The organisers appealed to people from all districts of the state to participate in large numbers and send a strong message to the government and the Congress party through the convention.
They also decided that all organisations, jamaats and associations should work towards ensuring participation from every district in Karnataka.
The statement reiterated that no politicians would be invited to the May 16 convention and that the report on the Congress government’s three-year performance would be submitted to the Chief Minister, Deputy Chief Minister, ministers and MLAs after the event.
