WAKE UP, OH YOUTH!

WAKE UP, OH YOUTH!

Road Safety Scenario in India:

India witnesses eighty thousand deaths in road crashes every year, 13% of the total fatality in

world. In 2015 with the number of deaths rose nearly 5% to 1.46 lakh. Major reasons which

account for the mammoth figure are:

• Driving drunk
• Using phone while driving
• Not using pedestrian crossings for crossing roads
• Rash driving.
• Low proportion of untrained drivers
• Lack of positive driving culture

Who can take the Torch Ahead?

India has the world's largest youth population with more than 65% population below the age of 35. In future, policies are going to be made by the youth for the youth. Therefore, youth certainly has a significant role to play in Road Safety due to large proportion in population and high motivation level to bring change into the society.

What youth can achieve?

I had an appalling experience when I saw the video of a child who had just visited Singapore and was fascinated by the Road Safety systems in place. The video can be seen here Road Safety Practices in Singapore and is used by www.publicsafetyindia.com for motivational purpose. The child in the video seems to be determined to change the Road Safety Systems of India.

The child notices:

• Automatic Pedestrian Road Crossing Signal
•  Zebra Lines
•  Drivers as responsible drivers who let the citizen cross the road first
•  Push Based Signal system for crossing the road

People may reject the determined attitude of the child disregarding as not practical as per Indian context, and emotional approach. In addition, people may say that such big policies makers have failed to bring change, what will this child’s do? But that is where the youth has to change the mindset. Youth is new to the world and therefore has not been gripped by the narrow minded system. Nobody has ever been able to stop new birds from flying just because old ones’ feathers have been cut away due to the dangers. The youth has the power to Create and Innovate; they can develop Analytics based Road Safety systems, Video Analytics for rule violation, Automatic road crossing signals etc. The youth has a Voice; they can help government by identifying risk prone zones, U-turns, dividers across the roads, running road safety promotional campaigns in Colleges and Universities, etc. As said by Swami Vivekananda “What we want are some young men who will renounce everything for country’s sake, the country will be transformed”.

Raghav Ahuja 

CONDITION OF RURAL ROADS

Rural Road connectivity is a key component of rural development, since it promotes access to

economic and social services, thereby generating increased agricultural productivity, non-agriculture

employment as well as non-agricultural productivity, which in turn expands rural growth

opportunities and real income through which poverty can be reduced.

A study (Fan et al. 2006) carried out by the International Food Policy Research Institute on

linkages between government expenditure and poverty in rural India has revealed that an

investment of Rs 1 crore in roads lifts 1650 poor persons above the poverty line. Public investment

on roads impacts rural poverty through its effect on improved agricultural productivity, higher non-

farm employment opportunities and increased rural wages. Improvement in agricultural productivity

not only reduces rural poverty directly by increasing income of poor households, it also causes

decline in poverty indirectly by raising agricultural wages and lowering food prices (since poor

households are net buyers of foodgrains). Similarly, increased non-farm employment and higher

rural wages also enhance incomes of the rural poor and consequently, reduce rural poverty. This

study estimated that while the ‘productivity effect’ of government spending on rural roads accounts

for 24 per cent of total impact on poverty, increased non-farm employment accounts for 55 per cent

and higher rural wages accounts for the remaining 31 per cent. Further, of the total productivity

effect on poverty, 75 per cent arises from the direct impact of roads in increasing incomes, while the

remaining 25 per cent arises from lower food prices (15 per cent) and increased wages (10 per cent).

Similar results are found in other developing countries. The study by the same institute (Fan et al.

2000)) in China revealed that with every 10,000 Yuan (about $1200) spent on rural roads eleven

persons are lifted above the poverty line. Living Standard Survey in Vietnam in 2002 showed that

populations living within 2 km of all-weather roads have lower poverty rates as noted in the draft

Vision Document for Rural Roads, 2006 (MoRD, 2006). Statistical evidence apart, the link between

poverty and lack of accessibility is quite apparent. Nearer home, a household survey (APERP, 1997)

conducted in the state of Andhra Pradesh indicated that the rural road improvements lead to

substantial reduction in freight charges, increase in household income, more employment

opportunities, and expansion of cultivated land as shown in Figures 5.1, 5.2, and 5.3.

STATUS OF RURAL ROADS IN INDIA

Roads are classified under a time-honoured system into National Highways (NHs), State Highways

(SHs), Major District Roads (MDRs), Other District Roads (ODRs), and Village Roads (VRs), with well-

recognized standards for construction and maintenance laid out in respect of each category.

Generally speaking, there are clearly understood demarcations of responsibility in terms of

governmental offices expected to deal with each category. However, while the activity mapping with

respect to NHs and SHs is clear cut, with respect to MDRs, ODRs, and VRs, these distinctions are

blurred. In many states, though PRIs are assigned responsibilities with respect to ODRs and VRs, a

plethora of agencies and line departments undertake formation and repairs of roads. These include

the state government’s PWD wing, the Agricultural Produce Marketing Committees (APMCs),

parallel bodies created by multilateral agencies, Forest department, Development authorities and so

on.

There are several general funds that are used for roads,

apart from special schemes tied to specific road projects.