Diageo India extends capacity-building training to The Indian Navy in collaboration with the Institute of Road Traffic Education (IRTE).

27 Aug 2018 | Press release

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Over 1000 Indian Naval officers trained during the programme

Visakhapatnam, August 27, 2018: Diageo India recently announced the launch of its Road Safety capacity building program for the Indian Navy together with the Institute of Road Traffic Education (IRTE). The first-of-its-kind programme for the Indian Navy was inaugurated in the august presence of Vice Admiral Karambir Singh, Flag Officer Commanding in Chief, Eastern Naval Command; Vice Admiral M S Pawar, Chief of Staff, Eastern Naval Command; and Dr. Rohit Baluja, President, Institute of Road Traffic Education (IRTE).

 

With over 1,45,000 fatalities a year, India accounts for 12.5% of global road accidents, with 1 road accident occurring every four minutes. The capacity-building training program was conducted by an expert panel of faculty from the IRTE. The officers of the Indian Navy including Provost Marshals participated in the training sessions on causes and consequences of road accidents, maritime threats near coastal regions, road safety regulations, accident investigation, traffic management and understanding traffic control devices.

 

In 2016, Andhra Pradesh reported over 24,000 road accidents and over 8,500 fatalities according to the Road Accidents in India report by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH). It also states that 335 fatalities and 1,445 injuries were reported in Visakhapatnam in 2017 due to road accidents.

 

Commenting on the initiative, Abanti Sankaranarayanan, Chief Strategy and Corporate Affairs Officer, Diageo India, said “It is an honour to extend our Road to Safety initiative to the Indian Navy who work selflessly in the service of the nation.  Our vision is to be a catalyst in the transformation of Road Safety in India, working with enforcement, Central & state governments, not-for-profit organisations and media. The support of The Indian Navy will go a long way towards achieving this Vision”.

 

Dr. Rohit Baluja, President, Institute of Road Traffic Education (IRTE), said “There could be nothing be more encouraging than to witness the great interest shown by the Indian Navy towards inviting all their officers for attending an awareness building programme on road safety. So also, we need to compliment the steps taken by the Vishakhapatnam Police by bringing together the traffic police officers, the road authorities and the academia for this four day capacity building initiative in road safety management organised by the IRTE with the magnanimous support of Diageo India. This association demonstrates the successful example of the Public, Private, Government and Corporate partnership towards building a road-safe-India.”

 

The Diageo India- IRTE ‘Road to Safety’ initiative is currently in its 4th Year and aims to provide capacity building training to traffic police officials and educate commercial drivers such as truckers and bus drivers and university students on the dangers of drunken driving.

 

Since 2014, the programme has trained over 5000 traffic officials in road safety capacity-building, along with 6,000 commercial vehicle drivers and over 5,000 university students in more than 66 cities of 17 states. Over 133 high quality breath alcohol analysers have been donated to police departments of several states.