GURUGRAM:
As part of the commitment towards road safety, Haryana Government, MG Motor India and TRAX NGO today announced a partnership to train teachers and educate school students across 200 schools in Gurugram and Faridabad on road safety over the next one-year period.
Focusing primarily on government schools, the programme entitled ‘Road Safety and Juniors Programme’ focuses on spreading road safety awareness to over 300,000 school students to make Indian roads safe and secure for all.
Supporting the initiative, senior officials and dignitaries from various government departments including Transport, Roads & Traffic Police attended the event held on Children’s Day at the Senior Government Senior Secondary School in Gurgaon, Chakkarpur. Addressing the students on the occasion, Dhanpat Singh, ACS – Transport Department, Haryana, said, “Road safety is the need of the hour and children, who represent India’s future, need to be educated about road safety mannerisms so that they can inculcate road safety habits among their peer group and their parents, to ensure a better tomorrow.”
The Road Safety & Juniors Initiative will last for one year across the Gurugram and Faridabad region, through a two-month long training programme for the teachers as well as for the students of each of the 200 schools. The road safety programme modules include training on the social impact of road crashes, necessity of inculcating road safety habits while walking on the road, basic knowledge of road infrastructure and role of bystanders in the case of a road crash, among other things. The unique feature about the initiative is that even children will be encouraged to become “First Respondents” in the case of an accident, in bringing the case to higher authorities and help organize immediate medical aid to the victims.
“Even before introducing our vehicles to the market, we have started promoting road safety through a rigid and long-term collaboration with TRAX by powering the Road Safety and Juniors Programme across schools in the Haryana region. The initiative will look at enhancing the understanding of more than 300,000 school students in 200 schools around road safety and the necessary road mannerisms that can make Indian roads much more safe and secure for all. The overarching goal should be to eventually make the initiative mandatory for all schools in Haryana, with the support of the concerned stakeholders,” said Rajeev Chaba, President & Managing Director, MG Motor India.
MG Motor and TRAX will also look at inculcating key stakeholder partnerships to give a greater boost to the campaign. The stakeholders in the initiative will include officials and representatives from the Traffic Police, Transport Department, Health Department, the Municipal Corporation, Department of Education and various schools.
“The Traffic Safety and First Respondent Training Programme aims to inculcate good traffic manners in children for a better future. The programme will last for a year with a target of influencing different schools in Gurugram and Faridabad imparting a two-month long training to teachers and students,” said Anurag Kulsheshtra, President, TRAX.
As part of its CSR initiative, MG Motor India is focused towards addressing the key areas of road safety, health and environment. With a strong focus on three key pillars – diversity, innovation and safety, the company has regularly taken it upon itself to organise and conduct events that build awareness around other key aspects of a well-rounded society.
MG Motor India also has a deep focus on diversity at the workplace and has taken concrete steps to have a gender-balanced workforce with 30% of its employees being women. This percentage is the highest in the automotive industry in India which is traditionally a male bastion. It recently concluded the #MGChangemakers campaign to highlight the amazing work done by women trailblazers in India for others – less privileged, around them. Further, it regularly organises various editions of the ‘MG Grand Innovation Challenge’ across top universities in India in a bid to foster innovation in the student community, specifically in the domains of green mobility, transportation and safety.
