Giving the highest priority to the safety of the lives of the residents of the state during road traffic, Punjab Chief Secretary Mr. Anurag Verma has emphasized on strict adherence to road safety rules and the use of modern devices to enforce them.
Chief Secretary Mr. Verma while reviewing the review meeting of the Supreme Court Committee on Road Safety at the Punjab Civil Secretariat today, said that the there are clear instructions from Chief Minister S. Bhagwant Singh Maan in this regard that the safety of the people of the state is the highest priority and therefore strict adherence to road safety rules is most important.
He also asked the officials of the Transport and Home Departments to immediately procure modern instruments used for compliance of rules at the ground level. The Chief Secretary said that drunken driving, over speeding, red light jumping, use of mobile phone while driving without helmet and seat belt etc.
violations which are directly related to human life, strictly checking should be done and the violators should be given strict punishments as per the law. Compounding of vehicle and cancellation of driving license should also be resorted to.
The Chief Secretary said that along with fines and punishments community services formula is also being implemented, under which the violators are being taken for blood donation, planting saplings, and teaching services for school children.
Mr. Verma further said that 800 alkometers are being procured to ensure strict checking of drunken driving. In this regard, the police department has been asked to complete this process within three months. Similarly, while encouraging e-challaning machines for efficient use of human resources, he has asked to purchase them within a month.
The meeting was attended by Director General of Lead Agency on Road Safety R.Venkat Ratnam, Principal Secretary Health and Family Welfare V.P.Singh, Principal Secretary Finance A.K.Sinha, Secretary Home Gurkirat Kirpal Singh, Secretary PWD Priyank Bharti, Secretary School Education KK Yadav, Secretary Transport Dilraj Singh, ADGP (Traffic) AS Rai, State Transport Commissioner Moneesh Kumar, Director Medical Education and Research Dr. Avinash Kumar, Traffic Advisor Dr. Navdeep Asija, representatives of NHAI and committee members.