IRTE and Diageo trains University Students in Madhya Pradesh on Road Safety “Towards Responsible Youth”

27 Sept 2019 | Press release

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The training programme will entail a robust workshop on Road Traffic Legislation and Defensive driving

Madhya Pradesh, September 27, 2019: Institute of Road Traffic Education (IRTE) and Diageo India, today, announced the launch of the training programme - “Towards Responsible Youth”, for students of Dr. Hari Singh Gour, Sagar University in Madhya Pradesh, as a part of their Road To Safety initiative. This is the first training programme conducted to train the university students on road safety. The programme was inaugurated in the presence of Dr. Rohit Baluja, President, Institute of Road Traffic Education (IRTE) and Prof. R.P. Mishra, School of Applied Sciences, Dean of Dr. Hari Singh Gour, Sagar University

Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MORTH) reported that a total of 10177 fatalities took place due to road accidents in 2017 as compared to 9646 in 2016, in Madhya Pradesh. In 2017, the number of road accident in Madhya Pradesh were 53399 and people injured due to road accidents were 57532, which is a huge number. In India, over 4,64,910 road accidents and over 1,47,913 fatalities have been reported during the year 2017.

 With the objective to reduce road fatalities and attaining higher levels of effectiveness, the programme attempts to bring a formal and structured training for youth eligible to apply for learner’s license. The program covered important subjects including defensive driving, road traffic legislation, ill effects of driving under the influence of alcohol etc. It also involved students participating in workshops and interesting quizzes on the theme of road safety.

Speaking on the initiative, Abanti Sankaranarayanan, Chief Strategy and Corporate Affairs Officer, Diageo India, said “Diageo India’s ‘Road to Safety’ initiative aims to create the necessary impact to address the appalling state of road safety in our country. Our collaboration with IRTE to train the students will help us resolve the menace of road fatalities and promote road safety amongst the youth. It is extremely important for today’s youth to be aware about road safety, its causes and consequences, and educating them through a robust training is pivotal.”

Dr. Rohit Baluja, President, Institute of Road Traffic Education (IRTE), said, “Road Safety is the pillar of a well-organized and safe traffic management system. We are always committed to lend our support towards development of need-based training programmes across the county. The younger generation today is not very aware about the menace of road accidents, and this first ever programme conducted for university students will help them be trained for a better tomorrow towards road safety and responsible driving.  I would like to congratulate the students in Madhya Pradesh and Diageo India for having supported this initiative. We are confident that with this training, the state will see further reduction in traffic fatalities on the road.”

The training program witnessed participation of over 600 students ranging from age group of 19 years- 22 years.  The Diageo India- IRTE ‘Road to Safety’ initiative is currently in its 5th year. Each programme is conducted by an expert panel of faculty of the IRTE. Since 2014, the programme has trained over 5020 police officials and 10,445 other participants which include Navy Officers, Engineers, Transport Officers, Commercial Vehicle Drivers and School Teachers. The training programmes have massively taken place in 22 states & Union Territories and 65 cities till date.