Source: autocarpro.in
Society for Automotive Fitness & Environment (SAFE), a SIAM initiative, in association with Ministry of Road Transport & Highways and Transport Department, Government of Jharkhand, organised the 20th edition of SAFE Annual Convention today in Ranchi, Jharkhand where a new app was launched to recognise, reward and incentivise people with good driving behaviour called ‘Driver Safe App’.
The convention this year was themed around ‘Make Roads Safer: 50 by 2030’, which implies reducing 50 percent fatality rate by 2030, with a fitting tag line – Safe Jharkhand. Sure Jharkhand. The convention was attended by prominent guests from the ministry and delegates from different backgrounds.
Speaking on the occasion, chief guest, C P Singh, minister of urban development, housing and transport department, Government of Jharkhand welcomed the automotive industry in Jharkhand and requested to spearhead their CSR funds for automotive testing centre at Jharkhand. He also stressed that the lawmakers should first adhere to the road rules and regulations and then enforce the same for the public. He also informed that Transport Department secures crores of funds and provides it to the Police department for proper allocation. The corporates and the enforcement agencies have to go a long way to make safe and secure Jharkhand.
Addressing the delegates, Prawin Kumar Toppo, secretary transport, Government of Jharkhand laid emphasis on the road safety concern and said, “Safety on the roads is as much a responsibility of individuals as it is on the law enforcers. He welcomed the auto industry for managing the road safety work in Jharkhand by opening the ILC centre and training centre.”
SIAM and the Automotive Skills Development Council (ASDC) also launched ‘Driver Safe App’ which is a platform to recognise, reward and incentivise people with good driving behaviour. This app is designed to provide better knowledge to the drivers to prevent road accidents and can detect a driver’s way of driving, the driving pattern and the level of proficiency in driving. Based on this, skill-based training can be provided to drivers which will eventually help in reducing accidents and thus lead to safer roads.
P.K. Banerjee, executive director, technical, SIAM said, “This is a unique initiative to make better drivers and better traffic management system in today’s fast paced era.”
The sessions were divided in four categories under four ‘E’s of safety, namely, Education, Enforcement, Engineering and Emergency Services. The first session highlighted on educational transition for school, colleges and for all road users and also to create a roadmap to impart education for safer driving habits making ‘Safe Jharkhand. Sure Jharkhand’. During this session, Arun Lakshman, road safety consultant automotive skill development council, Neeru Sachdeva, road safety expert, Gyan Mandir Public School, S Dheerendra, road safety specialist, Safe India Drive, Hyderabad, Pankaj Singh, director, Health & Safety at ACC Limited (Lafarge Holcim Group) shared their insights to all delegates.
The second session emphasised on the steps to be taken for bringing stringent enforcement for road discipline for achieving Safe Jharkhand. Sure Jharkhand. Anil Chikkara, MLO, Delhi transport department, and Ritwik Mishra, consultant road safety cell, transport department, Jharkhand presented their insights to all delegates.
The third session was focussed on safe transport and road engineering and suggested that sustainable steps should be taken by enforcement bodies in making Safe Jharkhand. Sure Jharkhand. This session was presented by H M Naqvi, chief general manager, National Highway Authority of India (NHAI), Rama Shankar Pandey, managing director, Hella India, S R Hariharan, deputy general manager, Volvo Trucks India and B Bhanot, consultant, Rosemarta.
The last session, titled ‘Emergency services’ – Bringing sustainability in public health and air quality, discussed the importance of bringing sustainable solutions for emergency services achieving Safe Jharkhand. Sure Jharkhand. During the session, Nitin Madan Kulkarni, health department, Jharkhand, Eilia Jafar, chief program officer, Save LIFE Foundation, Dr M S Khalid Quasmi, deputy general manager (Occupational Health Services), Tata Motors and Dr Gaurav Gupta, national professional officer (Injury and Disability Prevention), World Health Organisation (WHO) presented their insights. Abhinav Kumar Verma, an accident survivor victim also shared his traumatic experience at the convention.