Nagpur: Central government plans to set up 50 driving schools across the state to meet the demand as at present the country is facing a shortage of approximately 22 lakh drivers. Setting up such schools will also increase employment opportunities for the youth, said Union transport minister Nitin Gadkari.
He was speaking at the inauguration of Nagpur Rural RTO and sub regional transport office, Nagpur (East) building here on Sunday.
Similarly, an Institute of Driving Training and Research (IDTR) is also being set up at Godhani.
“Pollution is the biggest cause for concern today. With the increase in the number of diesel and petrol vehicles on roads, there is an extreme rise in pollution. Adapting to environment-friendly vehicles and technology can do wonders in preventing more deterioration in the health of the citizens,” he said, encouraging the public to go for electric or green fuel vehicles.
Minister of transport and parliamentary affairs Anil Parab, Maharashtra energy minister Nitin Raut, state animal husbandry minister Sunil Kedar, along with MPs, MLAs including Vikas Mahatme, Girish Vyas, Parinay Fuke, Krushna Khopade, Mohan Mate, Ashish Jaiswal, Vikas Kumbhare, Avinash Dhakane, Prakash Gajbhiye etc were present on the occasion.
“Nearly 5 lakh accidents take place in the country every year, causing a large number of deaths and permanent disabilities to many. The major cause of this is unscientific road engineering,” he said.
“A committee was formed in the city to study the causes behind accidents. After the committee highlighted 26 black spots and the authorities took necessary steps, the number of accidents has gone down by nearly 25% last year,” said Gadkari.
“Online services related to RTO have already begun and we are seeing its benefits too. Now, there is less crowd and almost zero human contact in the process. More than having a licence, better road sense needs to be instilled among the public, which can reduce the number of accidents,” said Parab.
Bajrang Kharmate, RTO, Nagpur Rural, detailed the dignitaries about the facilities in the new building. Special disabled-friendly arrangements too have been made while planning the office apart from introducing e-facilities, he said.
The programme was moderated by Renuka Deshkar and the vote of thanks was given by RTO Vinod Jadhav.