WHY LEAD AGENCY/ROAD SAFETY CELL WAS NEEDED?
FACTORS PROMPTED FOR THE CREATION OF LEAD AGENCY/ROAD SAFETY CELL
The genesis of Lead Agency/ Road Safety Cell was envisaged during the hearing of a Writ Petition (CIVIL) No. 295 of 2012 filed in the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India by Dr. S. Rajaseekaran, Chairman and Head of Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Ganga Hospital, Coimbatore and President of the Indian Orthopaedic Association.
In his writ petition, Dr. S. Rajaseekaran had prayed for the enforcement of road safety norms and appropriate treatment of accident victims.
He suggested that practical measures required to be taken in a time bound and expeditious manner to give effect to legislation, reports, and recommendations for ensuring that the loss of lives due to road accidents is minimized. The petitioner expressed his concern that 90% of the problem of deaths due to road accidents is the result of a lack of strict enforcement of safety rules on roads and strict punishment for those who do not obey rules. The petitioner has relied upon data published in December 2011 by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways in its publication captioned "Road Accidents in India 2010" to indicate that the number of road accidents is increasing every year and that unfortunately, more than half the victims are in the economically active age group of 25-65 years.
Since the petitioner had no personal interest in the matter, the writ petition filed by him was taken up as Public Interest Litigation (PIL).
The Hon'ble Apex Court in its judgment in the above Writ Petition passed on 22 April 2014, constituted a Committee on Road Safety under the Chairmanship of Hon'ble Mr. Justice K.S. Radhakrishnan Former Judge, Supreme Court of India (Effective from 15th May 2014) as Chairperson with two members:
- Mr. S. Sunder Distinguished Fellow, TERI Former Secretary, Ministry of Surface Transport, and Government of India: Member
- Dr. (Mrs.) Nishi Mittal Ex. Chief Scientist, CRRI, Formerly HoD, Traffic Engineering and Safety (TES), Central Road Research Institute: Member.
On the constitution of Hon'ble Supreme Court Committee on Road Safety, Sh. S.D. Banga was appointed as Secretary to the Committee in the year 2014 who was having vast work experience in various Ministries of Gol i.e. Ministry of Tourism, Defense, and Human Resource Development as Director, Dy. Secretary and Under Secretary.
The committee was notified by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highway (MoRTH) of the Government of India on 30th May, 2014, and orders finalizing the terms and conditions of appointment of the Chairperson and Member of the Committee were issued on 8th August, 2014.
CONSTITUTION OF LEAD AGENCY/ROAD SAFETY CELL:
In order to deal exclusively with road safety issues, the Hon'ble Supreme Court Committee on Road Safety directed the State Governments to constitute a Lead Agency vide its letter dated 23 December 2014 and subsequent discussion held with them. In compliance of the directions of the Hon'ble Committee, a dedicated Lead Agency/Road Safety Cell has been established in the Directorate of Transport, Himachal Pradesh vide HP Govt. Notification No. TPT-F(9)/3/2016-II dated 16-07-2019 and with the appointment of Executive Engineer from PWD department, DY. Superintendent of Police from Police department and Deputy Director from Education department and supporting staff comprising of Computer Operator( Accounts)=02, Data Entry Operator=04 and Programmer=1, this road safety cell has been made functional. Filling up of 04 posts of Junior Office Assistant (IT) are under process.
AIMS AND OBJECTIVES :
The functions of the Lead Agency/Road Safety Cell shall be as follow: -
- To work as a secretariat for the State Road Safety Council, arrange meetings of the Council, issue it's Minutes and monitor the implementation of the decisions of the Council by the concerned department of the State.
- To co-ordinate with the concerned departments of the State Govt. to ensure implementation of the direction issued from time to time by Hon'ble Supreme Court Committee on Road Safety and furnish compliance report in a time-bound manner..
- To ensure implementation of the directions given by the Center / State Govt. from time to time..
- To notify annual targets for the reduction of accidents and fatalities as fixed by the State and draw up an Annual Action Plan to achieve the targets and monitor its implementation.
- To collate on a regular basis data on road accidents and analysis the same to identify areas/road stretches and categories of accident victims who should be focused upon.
- To manage the Road Safety Fund and ensure that the fund is effectively utilized.
- Any other task related to road safety is assigned by the Government from time to time.