Gadkari Announces 3 New MANDATORY Features To Make Indian Highways Safer

Road accidents and crash deaths have been on the rise in India. Union Minister Nitin Gadkari has long been raising concerns about this and devising various ways to bring the accident count down. Recently, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) proposed to mandate several safety features on heavy vehicles, so that accidents caused by them get reduced.

Nitin Gadkari has confirmed that MoRTH will soon finalise a draft notification for the same. It will mandate the installation of an Electronic Stability Control System, Emergency Braking System, and Driver Drowsiness Alert and Safety System on heavy commercial vehicles. These will ensure better safety on highways. Reports say that 33,000 out of 172,000 people were killed in accidents with trucks as impacting vehicles.

The Union Minister said that this topic came up for discussion at the MoRTH’s two-day workshop with state transport ministers and secretaries, which concluded on Tuesday. The 42nd Transport Development Council (TDC) meeting deliberated the suggestions from the country’s transport organizations.

The ministry has come up with a new ₹4,500 crore centrally funded scheme to set up driving training centres and automated testing clusters to better train heavy commercial drivers and guide them into safer driving practices. This comes as part of the exercise to make Indian roads safer.

“There is shortage of 22 lakh skilled drivers in the country and through the policy, the government will ensure that properly trained drivers meet the requirement for the transport sector. The driver training centres would provide employment opportunity for about 50 lakh people. In two years about 1,250 such training and fitness centres would come up in different parts of the country,”  says Gadkari.

The central government will provide a grant of ₹17.25 crore for each centre in tier-I cities, ₹5.5 crore grant for tier-2 cities and ₹2.5 crore grant for tier-3 towns.

He also emphasized the need to limit the number of working hours for heavy commercial drivers. He says that they should work a maximum of 8 hours. This again, would have its own set of challenges.

Health Care Scheme For Accident Victims

To further enhance safety on Indian roads and highways, MoRTH has also proposed the nationwide launch of a new health care scheme. It will provide cashless treatment to victims of road accidents. This can be availed in the golden hour after the accident. This scheme is being rolled out in phases.

The pilot has been launched in a few states over the past few years and is now being revised. It will cover hospital expenses of ₹1.5 lakh per accident per person, and will support hospitalization for up to 7 days from the date of the accident. Hit-and-run victims will get 2 lakh rupees in compensation.

Vehicle Scrapping: What About It?

During the two-day workshop, several important issues were addressed to improve and streamline India’s vehicle scrapping and pollution control systems.

One of the key topics was the expedited operationalization of Registered Vehicle Scrapping Facilities (RVSFs) and Automated Testing Stations (ATSs) by states. The workshop also focused on creating standardized audit requirements and rating systems for scrapping centres to ensure efficiency and compliance.

Pollution Control and New Norms

The adoption of PUCC 2.0 (Pollution Under Control Certificate) across India was another major focus. Revised guidelines for PUCC were presented, with an emphasis on onboarding all states as soon as possible. These updates aim to strengthen pollution control measures nationwide.

Additionally, the introduction of BS-VII norms was discussed, including timelines for implementation and the expected reduction in pollution levels these stricter norms would bring.

Expansion of Vehicle Scrapping Centres

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari highlighted that the number of vehicle scrapping centres in India will exceed 90 this year. Under the vehicle scrappage policy, scrapping certificates will offer multiple benefits, including discounts on the purchase of new vehicles and even reductions in taxes.