India News | Punjab Cabinet Gives Nod to Set Up Force to Check Road Accidents, Streamline Traffic
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. The Punjab Cabinet on Friday gave its nod to set up a road safety force to streamline traffic movement and check accidents in the state.
Chandigarh, Aug 11 (PTI) The Punjab Cabinet on Friday gave its nod to set up a road safety force to streamline traffic movement and check accidents in the state.
Around 5,000 police personnel will be a part of the 'Sadak Surakhya Force' out of which around 1,500 will be immediately deployed from among the newly recruited personnel.
A decision to this effect was taken in a meeting of the council of ministers held here under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, according to an official release.
The cabinet opined that Punjab has witnessed a significant increase in traffic and road infrastructure over the past few decades. The state has a 72,078 km long road network, including the national and state highways.
The cabinet expressed concern over 65 per cent of road fatalities taking place on national and state highways, adding that in the year 2021, 4,476 lives were lost in 580 road accidents.
Most of these fatal accidents take place between 6 pm and 12 pm when the presence of police on these roads is minimal.
Highway patrol routes have been identified based on the past years' road accident trends, said the statement.
As many as 144 patrolling vehicles, fitted with specialised equipment to check drunken driving and overspeeding will be deployed on these routes, each covering a distance of 30 km. An amount of Rs 30 crore will be spent on the purchase of the vehicles and the equipment.
In another decision, the cabinet also gave consent to set up a martyrs' memorial in every district as a mark of respect to freedom fighters and national heroes who laid down their lives either during the freedom struggle or any war, the statement said.
The memorial will inspire the coming generations for selfless service towards the country and its people, said the statement.
The cabinet also gave a nod to the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in further improving the governance in the state. The decision aims at making the state a front-runner in the usage of AI in governance and providing better services to the citizens.
The AI can be helpful in reducing road accident fatalities, checking tax evasion, improving health services, improving citizen interface and others, it said.
A centre for emerging technologies has already been set up in the Punjab State Governance Society (PeGS) and an MoU has been signed with an NGO to assist in harnessing the power of Al and Machine Learning (ML) in the state government.
The cabinet approved the setting up of a facilitation centre for NRIs at the arrival hall of the international terminal of the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi.
This centre will be manned round-the-clock and provide assistance to all NRIs and other passengers arriving at the terminal.
Efforts will be made to provide a suitable sitting arrangement for the passengers or their relatives along with assistance regarding the arrival of flights, connecting flights, taxi services, and lost luggage facilities.
In order to commemorate the third phase of 'Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav', the cabinet also recommended the special remission of 45 convicts confined in jails across the state on Independence Day.
After the nod of the Cabinet under Article 163 of the Constitution of India, these special remission cases will be submitted to the Punjab Governor under Article 161 of the Indian Constitution for consideration, it said.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)