Delhi student’s death spurs PM Modi to speed up road safety Bill

NEW DELHI: The death of a management student, Vinay Jindal, in a hit-and-run accident last week in east Delhi has spurred the government to fast-track the road transport and safety Bill and expand the cashless treatment scheme for road crash victims in the first 50 hours.
In his ‘Mann ki Baat’ radio programme on Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi referred to Jindal and said the 22-year-old died of excessive bleeding because nobody stepped forward to help him as he lay on the road for more than 10 minutes.
Modi said the footage of the crash had troubled him. He appealed to parents to discuss road safety at home and sensitize young boys and girls about road behaviour when they drive.
WATCH: PM addresses nation through 'Mann ki Baat'
Expressing shock at the high number of fatalities, Modi said, “When we see the figures, we notice that in India, an accident takes place every minute and a road death every four minutes. Among the victims, one-third are in the 15-25 age group.”
Modi said the government was also planning other important measures such as putting in place a national road safety policy and road safety action plan.
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The new road safety law being drawn up will cover road safety education, road engineering, enforcement of traffic laws and emergency care. At present, cashless treatment of crash victims is being tested by the Centre on three highways stretches — Gurgaon-Jaipur, Mumbai-Vadodara and Ranchi-Mahulia.
Modi avoided touching upon any political issue in his address at a time when the government is locked in a bitter duel with the opposition. He greeted the armed forces on Kargil Vijay Divas, paid tributes to the farming community and praised scientists besides saying that central officials would pay a week-long visit to north-eastern states to study the problems of the region.
READ ALSO: Soldiers, all villages,cities contributed to Kargil victory, PM says
The PM also asked people to make suggestions on issues which could form part of his Independence Day speech this year.
Modi also promised to ensure that all villages in the country get 24-hour electricity under the Deen Dayal Upadhyay Gram Jyoti Yojana, which was launched by him in Patna on Saturday. “It is a difficult task but we have started work on this... India is such a big country and villages are so far-off but we will do it,” he said, underlining that electricity is a key requirement for progress.
Focusing on the northeast, Modi said under the ‘Act East’ policy of his government, officials of the ministry of development of northeast region (DONER) will go to the states of the region. “They will hold seven-day camps, talk to people and address their problems,” he said.
On the farm sector, he expressed happiness that the monsoon rainfall has been good so far and production of pulses and oilseeds had shown an increase of 50% and 33%, respectively.
The PM also referred to the recent accomplishment of ISRO in launching five satellites for the United Kingdom in a first-of-its-kind feat. At the same time, he regretted that interest in science and technology was on the decline among the youth. To generate interest in research and development, he suggested innovation competitions be held nationally.
In the context of the Swachh Bharat campaign, Modi highlighted a case of a Madhya Pradesh village where locals had launched 'Operation Mal Yudh'. He said they had started a ‘Brother Number One’ competition where men would gift a toilet to their sisters to celebrate the Raksha Bandhan festival and the best among them will be chosen for awards.
Regarding the 'mygov' portal launched a year ago, Modi said he had received almost 2 crore hits and several important suggestions were being made by the people.
“We had committed to enhance people’s participation in democracy and make them partners in development,” he said, referring to a suggestion by a person from Kanpur that the IRCTC portal should have facilities to provide bookings for the disabled. “This suggestion was taken seriously by the government and now we have this facility in place,” he said.