Despite a steady increase in
the amount of toll collected
on national highways over
the years, the Ministry of
Road Transport and Highways
has failed to initiate concrete
measures that could help improve
road safety in the country.
In 2009-10, toll collected on
national highways amounted to
Rs 2,251 crore. This was 14.18 per
cent higher than the toll collected
in 2008-09 and 35.51 per cent
higher than the toll collection in
2007-08. Toll collection in 2008-09
stood at Rs 1,971 crore compared
to Rs 1,661 crore in 2007-08.
The amount spent by the ministry
on road safety during 2009-
10 was a mere Rs 22.39 crore of the
Rs 79 crore allocated for the purpose.
In other words, only 28.34
per cent of the total funds allocated
for road safety during the period
were utilised.
The ministry's road safety fund
utilisation statistics for previous
years are not very encouraging
either. In 2008-09, it was able to
utilise Rs 54.9 crore of the Rs 73
crore allocated for road safety.
Similarly, in 2007-08, the fund
utilisation stood at Rs 42.9 crore
out of the Rs 52 crore allocated.
The failure by the ministry to
fully utilise the funds allocated
for road safety reveals the government's
scant regard for the
wellbeing of road users. According
to the Rajshree Parmar
Memorial Foundation, a Pune based
NGO engaged in creating
road safety awareness, a total of
6,51,000 road accidents took
place in the country in 2008. The
accidents led to 1,37,995 deaths,
18,05,000 hospitalisations, and
8,18,000 serious injuries. Around
4,95,000 people were disabled as
a result of the accidents.
"The poor utilisation of the road
safety funds by the Ministry of
Road Transport and Highways
may be attributed to bureaucratic
hurdles," Chandmal Parmar,
Chairman and Managing Trustee
of Rajshree Parmar Memorial
Foundation, told Projectmonitor.
Parmar is also a member of the
ministry's steering committee on
road safety. The committee was
formed to draw up an action
plan on road safety, both at
the state and national level.
"It is imperative the central government
ensures that the funds
allocated for road safety are
utilised fully and effectively. The
ministry's steering committee on
road safety can be asked for help
in this regard. The problem so far
has been slow implementation of
the various plans and proposals,"
said Parmar.
Improvement of safety on roads
is currently the responsibility of
the Road Safety Cell of the Ministry
of Road Transport. Its activities
include organising publicity
campaigns to raise awareness
about road safety, providing
grants-in-aid to NGOs for road
safety awareness programmes,
offering financial assistance to
organisations engaged in conducting
refresher courses for
heavy motor vehicle drivers in
the unorganised sector, imparting
training to state government
officials associated with the
road transport sector, implementation
of the National Highways
Accident Relief Service Scheme,
and providing assistance to
the states in the form of road
safety equipment.
The National Highways Authority
of India is planning to set up
24/7 call centre services to assist
distressed road users for reporting
road accidents and other issues
related to national highways by
April 2011.