Driving Naari Programme launched in Chandigarh
Chandigarh, The Punjab Government today launched Safe School Vahan Scheme for ensuring safety of School kids and reducing the accident rate of school buses.
Disclosing this here today Mr. Ajit Singh Kohar, Transport Minister, Punjab said that majority of accidents involving the school buses happens due to the unsafe bus body fabrication and the failure of the education institutions to adopt comprehensive periodical preventive maintenance procedure and lack of driving skills among the bus drivers
Stressing upon the need for reducing ‘Road Accidental Deaths’ in the state he said that the reduction in the increasing deaths due to road accidents was the call of the hour. He said that Punjab Government has initiated an elaborate drive to ensure that the road safety norms are being properly implemented. For this purpose a scheme namely ‘Safe School Vahan ‘ has been formulated by the transport department. School Education Department has been entrusted upon a special responsibility to properly maintain school buses and their use following the norms of Motor Vehicle Act, 1988 and Supreme Court rulings.
Mr. Kohar said that instructions were also issued to all the district transport authorities to implement the decisions of the transport department. He said that all the DTOs would be held responsible for any violations of the road safety norms and departmental action would be initiated against him.
The Minister said that the drivers of the PRTC and PUNBUS who have not met with any accident due to their safe driving on the roads would be awarded at a state level functions. He also disclosed that PUNBUS and Punjab Roadways stood first and second respectively to have committed minimum accidents on roads this year.
Mr. Kohar has also urged the NGOs and other Voluntary organizers to help the government in making road safety, a movement of the people through generating mass awareness campaigns ensuring fewer accidents on the roads especially on the highways.
The Minister has also asked the officers at the district levels to ensure forceful implementations of the government directives in matter of road safety. He has also asked the Traffic Police together with the department of health to immediately handle the emergency in road accidents so that the minimum time be taken in shifting the accident victim to the nearest hospitals after administering him on the spot first aid treatment. Directing the STC, the Minister said that the unregistered vehicles are checked and action be taken on the owners for not getting their vehicles registered. He has asked the officers of the Transport Department to do all out efforts in reducing the percentage of road accidents to 10 percent.
