Consumer VOICE along with its state partner, Honcho Tech for Good Foundation organised a state level workshop in Kolkata on “Strengthening Road Safety, to Save Precious Lives on Roads in West Bengal” on 8th October.

The workshop was joined by dignitaries including Shri Arindam Mani (WBCS, EXE) Addl. Secretary Transport Department, Govt of WB, Smt Santi Sen Das (WBPS), Addl. Special Superintendent, WB Police, Shri Priyanjan Das (WBCS, EXE) Dy. Managing Director, WB Transport Corporation, Dr. Abhik Ghosh, Senior Consultant ENT & Head Neck Surgeon, Apollo Hospitals Kolkata, Secretary, Protect The Warriors; Secretary, IMA Salt Lake City, Shri Swapnomoy Chakraborty, Renowned Bengali Novelist, Shri Indranil Dasgupta, Director social Initiatives, Honcho, and Shri Ashim Sanyal, COO, Consumer VOICE where experts discussed challenges and how to strengthen road safety in the state and MVAA 2019.

Smt. Santi Sen Das, WBPS (Addl. Special Superintendent, West Bengal Police) while emphasising on the importance of collaborative efforts towards road safety said that  “It is a high time that people should realise the need for taking road safety measures not only for themselves but also for the society. Each individual in this society should inculcate road safety culture in their mind and actions. Then only the mortality and accident ratio can be controlled. No more nike Circus in the city and districts can be tolerated,”

Dr. Abhik Ghosh (Senior Consultant ENT and Head Neck Surgeon, Apollo Hospitals Kolkata; Secretary, Protect The Warriors; Secretary, IMA Salt Lake City) talked about Good Samaritan Law .He said that “Every individual of this state should be made aware about the Good Samaritan Law as it will give them an insight how to act cohesively during any accidents. They should be imbibed with proper knowledge how to handle an accident patient if anything occurs in the road. Neglecting the situation and ignoring the patients will cause harm for every citizen in our society if they don’t practise this habit because nobody knows when they will face such an incident in their life.”

Shri.Priyanjan Das, WBCS, EXE (Dy. Managing Director, West Bengal Transport Corporation)  discussed about various road safety measures adopted by the West Bengal Transport Corporation .He highlighted about  various Capacity Building Trainings with the Bus Drivers to decrease Road accidents and to provide basic life support to the victims. He spoke about maintenance aspect by and told that WBTC always maintains their buses, so that mechanical fault shouldn’t be the cause of road accident and fatalities.”

Shri. Swapnomoy Chakraborty (Renowned Bengali Novelist) emphasised on role of citizens and said that “People should utilise their senses and give priorities to the Road Safety Education by not ignoring their common duties as a good citizen of Kolkata. Then only the City and the Districts can able to enforce Road Safety Measures more effectively.”

Shri Ashim Sanyal discussed about various provisions of MVAA 2019 and gave practical examples of other states where MVAA 2019 is implemented. Shri Indronil Dasgupta made presentation about current road safety scenario.

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Stakeholders’ consultation in Madhya Pradesh | Stakeholders’ consultation in Uttar Pradesh

Shri Ramji Shrivastava, Superintendent of Police, Headquarter, Bhopal who was the Chief Guest stakeholders consultation in Madhya Pradesh with the objective of ‘fast implementation of MVAA 19 to save lives on roads’ started the event by explaining the reasons behind road accidents. He elaborated on the actions  taken by the police department to prevent road accidents and save lives. He said that there are more than 18 lakh vehicles registered in Madhya Pradesh and maximum accidents occurs during 9 am to 12 noon and between 6 pm and 9 pm as against the popular belief of high accidents during night time. He also added that in Madhya Pradesh number of road accidents is more on State highways and within the cities. Grievous injurious are reported more at traffic junctions. Accidents even at zebra crossings causing death of pedestrians have been reported. He also said that people’s awareness and participation are very important to minimize road accidents.

Dr. S.K. Saxena, Senior Surgical Specialist & Civil Surgeon and Former Medical Adviser to Human Rights Commission said that the role of a good Samaritan, especially his/her promptness is very crucial to save lives and thus to reduce fatalities among road accident victims. He highlighted the need for training on road safety and first aid for all from the primary stage in school up to the college to enable them to save lives of road accident victims.

Dr. Rahul Tiwari, Assistant Professor of Maulana Azad National Institute of Technology (MANIT) spoke about the Government of India’s efforts to make over all changes in the existing system through automation of vehicle registration, issuing driving licenses, detection of traffic violation and over speeding etc. He also explained how implementation of Intelligent Traffic Management System could help in detecting traffic violations and help in proper implementation of MVAA 2019. He mentioned about the government initiatives like Saarthi Portal  for issuing of driving licenses and Vahan Portal  for registration of vehicles. He stressed upon the need for implementation of automatic surveillance system which could be a deterrent to traffic violation. Dr Pradip Nandi, Director General NCHSE was also part of the event.

Shri Hemant Upadhyay, Advisor, Consumer Voice presented the Overview of road safety and Motor Vehicle Amendment Act, 2019 and pointed out that while during 2018-19 number of road accidents have decreased in some of the states like Tamil Nadu, road accidents continuously increased in Madhya Pradesh. He said that maximum fatalities or grievous injuries are suffered by the working age group, which not only affects but the entire family financially. He stressed on timely implementation of MVAA 2019 which will help in decreasing road accidents in Madhya Pradesh.

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Stakeholders’ consultation in Uttar Pradesh | Stakeholders’ consultation in West Bengal

A state-level stakeholders consultation was organized in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh on 8th October 2021  by Consumer Guild with Consumer VOICE to strengthen road safety to discuss “Diligent Enforcement Of MVAA 2019 For Saving Lives On Roads.” The key points that were discussed included road safety scenario, challenges, perceptions of common people towards MVAA2019, gaps identified and how road safety strengthening can be taken forward with collaborative efforts.

The guest experts who joined were Shri P.S Satyarthi, Deputy Transport Commissioner (Road Safety), Shri Raghvendra Kumar Mishra, ACP Lucknow (Central) , Dr. Satish, Assistant Professor, KGMU, Lucknow, Shri J.P Pandey, Traffic Inspector, Lucknow , Shri Mohit Singh, BIS Lucknow, Ms. Rinki Sharma, Consumer VOICE, Shri Pradeep Singh, Dr. Neeraj Gupta besides road safety experts ,representatives of consumer organisations, advocates and media persons.

Transport Department – Highlighting the efforts made in the area of road safety, Shri Pushpsen Satyarthi, Deputy Transport Commissioner (Road Safety) said that “The transport department is working on road safety in UP to make state roads safer for the people. UP Government has implemented the MVAA 2019 and Road Safety Cell is coordinating with all the stakeholders for proper implementation of the Act. We are working for diligent enforcement of the Act, good Samaritan and several other important provisions which are included in Act to strengthen road safety.  U.P Transport department is in the process of a making a rule for non-motorized vehicles with coordination of Lucknow Nagar Nigam Lucknow (municipality department).

Police – Shri Raghvendra Kumar Mishra, Additional Commissioner Police, Lucknow, (Central) joined the workshop and reinforced public participation and awareness and said that this is the most important factor for effective implementation of MVAA 2019 besides several other provision to enhance road safety and to make police enforcement drives more effective to prevent casualties on roads. He also emphasized that it’s a collaborative responsibility and every citizen of the country is a stakeholder in road safety. 

Bureau of Indian Standard (Standardization authority) – Shri Mohit Singh, of Bureau of Indian Standards Lucknow Branch made a presentation on ISI Helmet standards set by Bureau of Indian Standards. It is now compulsory to wear only ISI Mark helmets. Various technical aspects of wearing helmets and road safety were also discussed.

Medical Fraternity – Dr. Satish, Assistant Professor, King George Medical University, Lucknow shared the views on emergency care and golden hour after any accident. According to Dr. Satish those who are affected or killed are mostly people in their prime productive age. The highest burden of injuries and fatalities is borne disproportionately by poor people, as they are mostly pedestrians, cyclists, and passengers of buses and minibuses. “Golden hour” means the time period lasting one hour following a traumatic injury during which there is highest likelihood of preventing death by providing prompt medical care. He also discussed about provisions in current law regarding golden hour and how it is saving lives.

Shri Abhishek Shrivastava, advocate and chairperson of Consumer Guild presented the various provisions of the MVAA2019.

Ms. Rinki Sharma, Project Lead, Consumer VOICE said that the consultation mainly focused on the six vital pillars of road safety which are seen as the best global practice to reduce road casualties. Uttar Pradesh has taken lead in strengthening road safety and it’s high time to have a consultation processes with the concerned stakeholders to make the necessary diligent enforcement of the act and rules.

Also Read:
Stakeholders’ consultation in Madhya Pradesh | Stakeholders’ consultation in West Bengal