“Out of this, 30,000 were because of no helmet and another 10,000 were because of improper entry and exit points near school and colleges,” said the minister.
Cashless treatment
Gadkari said that the government had conducted a pilot of cashless treatment in a few states and would implement the same across the nation in the coming months after analysing the areas of improvement in the scheme.
He added that a report suggested that 50,000 people could have been saved from golden hour treatment.
This scheme provides free treatment of up to Rs 1.5 lakh for seven days to an accident victim. It also provides Rs 2 lakh to the kin of the victim in case of death.
Gadkari said that the government had worked towards improving road safety through better engineered roads and having lesser dark spots. He, however, acknowledged that this had not worked, adding that there now had to be a change in collective behaviour of the people.
“People have to follow lane discipline, signals, wear helmets and seat belts,” said Gadkari. He added that the Motor Vehicle (Amendment) Bill would be tabled later this year.
Driving training centres
The Union minister said that another major topic discussed was establishing driving training centres for truck and bus drivers. “We have a shortage 22 lakh driver shortage,” said Gadkari.
He added that the Centre in partnership with states aimed to set up 1,250 training centres and fitness centres. These centres will be given incentives by the Centre. These facilities will train about 25 lakh drivers, generating as many jobs and will generate an additional 15 lakh jobs at the centres itself.
These centres will be equipped with electric bus and trucks along with a charging facility. This facility can generate income on its own by keeping it open to the public. This will also mean such centres will get additional EV benefits.
Scrapping policy
The third most important topic discussed is the scrapping policy. “Registration fee for new vehicle will be 50,000 off if you produce scrap certificate and the company dealer will provide an additional 1.5-3 per cent additional discount on the new vehicle,” said Gadkari.
He said that the country only had 78-82 scrapping centres today but the aim is to reach 1,500 centres. “We want to scrap even buses and trucks. Automobile industry will go far because of scrapping,” Gadkari added.
He said steel, plastic, rubber and iron parts could be recycled and even exported through scrapping, creating a cicular economy.
