New Delhi, July 26
Concerned over the high rate of
casualties in accidents, the government will soon bring a Road Transport and
Safety Bill and launch cashless treatment for mishap victims, Prime Minister
Narendra Modi said today in his monthly radio programme Mann ki Baat while
avoiding any mention of politics or the logjam in Parliament.
In his 15-minute programme, he also
hailed the armed forces in the context of Kargil Vijay Divas, paid tributes to
the farming community and praised scientists, besides saying that a team of
officials will pay a week-long visit to the northeastern states to understand
the problems of the region and address them.
He also invited suggestions from the
public which could form part of his this year’s Independence Day speech.
While talking about various social
issues, he avoided politics at a time when Parliament is unable to function
because of a deadlock with the Opposition demanding resignation of External
Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje and
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan over various controversies.
Talking about road accidents, he
mentioned the case of a scooter rider lying bleeding on a road in Delhi with
nobody helping him.
“Several people have been writing to
me that I should speak on road safety to create awareness about it. When we see
the figures, we notice that in India, an accident takes place every minute and
a death due to these takes place every four minutes. Among the victims, one-third
are in the age group of 15-25 years,” the Prime Minister noted.
Keeping this in mind, the government
will soon bring a Road Transport and Safety Bill, he said.
The government is also planning
other important measures like putting in place a National Road Safety Policy
and Road Safety Action Plan, he said.
A project under which cashless
treatment will be given to accident victims, wherein the victim does not have
to worry for the first 50 hours as to who pays the money for treatment, will
also be launched soon, he said.
The project will be launched in
Gurgaon, Jaipur and Vadodara and then to Mumbai, Ranchi, Rungaon and Maurya
national highways.
The Prime Minister also promised to
ensure that all villages in the country get 24-hour electricity under the Deen
Dayal Upadhyay Gram Jyoti Yojana, which was launched by him in Patna yesterday.
“It is a difficult task but we have
started work on this… India is such a big country and villages are so far-off
but we will do it,” he said, while underlining that electricity is a key
requirement for progress and a necessity in everyday life for everyone.
Talking about the North East, Modi
said that under the ‘Act East’ policy of his government, officials of the
Ministry of Development of North East Region (DONER) will go to the states of
the region. “They will hold seven-day camps, talk to people and address their
problems,” he said.
With regard to the farm sector, he
expressed happiness that the Monsoon rainfall has been good so far and
production of pulses and oilseeds has shown an increase of 50 per cent and 33
per cent respectively.
After talking about ‘kisan’
(farmer), he spoke about the ‘jawan’ (soldier) on the Kargil Vijay Divas,
celebrated today as a day of victory against Pakistan in the three-month
conflict in Kargil in Jammu and Kashmir in 1999. He paid tributes to the armed
forces and hailed their valour and sacrifices for the nation.
“In Kargil, each of our soldier
proved more than a 100 of the enemy. I salute to the brave soldiers who
thwarted the evil designs of the enemy without caring for their own lives.
The Kargil War was not fought only
on the border but every village, every city contributed to it.
“This war was fought by those
mothers and sisters whose sons and brothers were in the battlefield. It was fought
by those girls, who had just been married, those fathers who gave their sons
and felt young themselves, and those sons who had not even learnt to walk
properly holding the finger of their father. It is because of their sacrifices
that India can move in the world holding its head high,” he said.
While talking about ‘vigyan’
(science), he referred to the recent accomplishment of ISRO which launched five
satellites of the United Kingdom, in first such feat.
At the same time, he regretted that
interest in science and technology was on the decline among the youth of today.
To generate interest in research and development, he suggested holding of
competitions in innovations nationally.
In the context of the ‘Swacchh
Bharat’ programme, Modi highlighted a case of a Madhya Pradesh village where
locals have launched ‘Operation Mal Yudh’ (war against dirt).
He said the locals had started a
competition of ‘Brother No.1’, in which brothers would have to gift a toilet to
his sister on the upcoming Raksha Bandhan festival and the best among them will
be chosen for awards.
Regarding the ‘mygov’ portal
launched on this day a year ago, Modi said he had received almost 2 crore hits
and several important suggestions were being made by the people.
“We had committed to enhance
people’s participation in democracy and make the people partners in
developmental activities,” he said, while referring to a suggestion by a person
from Kanpur that IRCTC portal should have facility to provide bookings for the
disabled.
“This suggestion was taken seriously
by the government and now we have put this facility in place,” he said, adding
that all major suggestions would be taken to their ends.
He also urged the people to make
their suggestions on the ‘mygov’ site on what issues he should speak on the
upcoming Independence Day, while referring to a person from Chennai who
suggested that he should raise issues like ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padao’, ‘Swachch
Bharat’ and ‘Clean Ganga’. — PTI
