Road and highways Ministry proposes Rs 14 thousand cr plan for enhancing road safety

Road,
Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari has said that World Bank and
Asian Development Bank have approved seven thousand crore rupees each to remove
black spots and enhance road safety. He said this while addressing the Road
Safety Stakeholders’ Meet in New Delhi yesterday.

Mr Gadkari
reiterated governments commitment for making roads safer for all the road
users. He said, education of the masses on road safety is important.

The Minister
also called upon the students to become the brand ambassadors of road safety to
bring about the behavioral and transformative change in the youths of the
country.

Speaking on
the occasion, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has called for all concerned
stakeholders to work in coordination to reduce number of road accidents in the
country.

Around four
lakh 50 thousand road accidents took place every year, in which over 1.5 lakh
people lost their lives. Mr Singh said, the country loses two per cent of GDP
due to road accidents, which is a matter of concern.

On the
occasion, the Defence Minister awarded Tamil Nadu, as the best performing state
in reducing road accidents.