Road accidents kill more people than terror, riots, wars: Gadkari

Nagpur Today

Nagpur: Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Sunday sounded the alarm over India’s alarming road safety crisis, saying road accidents claim more lives in the country than terrorist attacks, riots, wars and even the Covid-19 pandemic, largely because people neither fear nor respect the law.

Gadkari was speaking at the concluding ceremony of a training programme organised by the Laxmanrao Mankar Trust for 1,400 tribal teachers. Emphasising the need for greater discipline and civic responsibility, he said nearly five lakh people lose their lives in road accidents every year.

“People neither respect nor fear the law,” Gadkari said, stressing that strict adherence to rules was essential to reducing the country’s staggering road death toll.

The Union Minister said the freedom struggle and the sacrifices of freedom fighters had secured Swarajya (self-rule) for India, but the country’s next challenge was to transform Swarajya into Surajya, good governance and a better society.

Gadkari identified four key pillars for building a strong society, Lok Prabodhan (social awakening), Lok Shikshan (public education), Lok Sangharsh (collective struggle) and Lok Sanskar (social values). He said sustained efforts in these areas were necessary for meaningful social transformation.

Calling for continuous self-improvement, Gadkari said no individual could claim to be perfect. People, he said, must constantly work on their skills, knowledge, values and thinking while developing a fresh vision and direction to become responsible citizens.

Focus on tribal education

Gadkari praised the Laxmanrao Mankar Trust for its longstanding contribution to tribal education and said its training initiative was being conducted at a “holy and sacred” location on the premises of the Anusuaya Mata temple. Recalling a personal connection with the place, he said his mother used to regularly visit the temple.

He noted that efforts in the field of tribal education had continued for nearly three decades and recalled the contribution of former MP Laxmanrao Mankar, who was a teacher and had served as an RSS swayamsevak, a Jan Sangh member and later a BJP leader.

According to Gadkari, Mankar eventually withdrew from electoral politics to devote himself to organisational and social work. After his death following deteriorating health, those returning from his cremation at Amgaon felt the need to preserve and advance his ideals, eventually leading to the establishment of the trust.

Technology to expand social work

Gadkari stressed that technology should be harnessed to take the trust’s educational and social initiatives to a much wider audience. Recalling a patriotic song he used to sing during his ABVP days about lighting a lamp where darkness prevailed, he said the larger objective should be to move society from darkness to light, ignorance to knowledge and poverty to prosperity.

Quoting Dr BR Ambedkar’s famous observation that education is like “tigress’s milk”, Gadkari underlined the transformative power of education, particularly for communities that have historically faced social and economic challenges.

He also offered space at his Agrovision building to enable the trust to establish a digital studio. The proposed facility could be used for producing patriotic songs and conducting skill-development programmes, with the aim of extending the trust’s reach through modern technology.

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