Shimla: Himachal Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri said the state witnessed a 13 per cent decline in the number of road accidents in 2023 and also announced a reward of Rs 5,000 for anyone who takes an injured person to a hospital.
After flagging off the road safety padyatra in Shimla, Agnihotri, who is also the state transport minister, said there has been a decline of about 13 per cent in road accidents in the state. He also said that the government is committed to curbing drug abuse along with road safety.
The event was organized by more than 12 cultural associations along with the Secretariat Sports Control Board and the State Transport Department
“We have started the road safety campaign till April, I am grateful to the employees, unions and others.
Participation of secretariat personnel is important. Every year around 1000 people die due to road accidents and we are working to reduce this. Today we have people carrying placards giving the message of road safety. We also want to educate people and we have also organized and experienced women empowerment.
He said, “Our policy towards drugs in the state is zero tolerance. “So far in the case of synthetic drugs, we have seized around 15 kg of chitta (heroin) in the state and 16000 cases have been registered and 2000 people have been booked.”
We have also appealed to the Secretariat Association to work against drugs. This road safety is a new beginning with the participation of secretariat staff. We have reduced road accidents by 13 percent. Road accidents are mostly happening due to human error.
We have also announced that we will give a reward of Rs 5000 to anyone who takes an injured person to the hospital.”
Rajesh Bhardwaj, head of the cultural club of Himachal Pradesh Secretariat, said that road safety is important.
“This road safety march is important. Here we are walking from the Secretariat to the Mall Road. We are making people aware about road safety norms. We all belong to the sports and cultural clubs of the secretariat employees. It’s good to be a part of this campaign.”
Manjeet Bansal, a female participant, said that we need to make all people aware about road safety.
“We are happy to organize this awareness walk from the Secretariat and people from the transport department are also making people aware about safe roads through such awareness campaigns.
We need to make people aware about road safety and it is important that we all follow road safety norms. We are making people aware about road safety, we should follow the police guidelines for road safety and walk pathways.”
