Ashok Leyland to set up driving school

In an effort to make the capital's roads safer, the Delhi government yesterday signed an agreement with Ashok Leyland for setting up a training institute for drivers of heavy vehicles.

The institute, for which the agreement was signed by Delhi Transport Secretary Rajeev Talwar and Ashok Leyland Managing Director R Seshasayee here, will operate at the infrastructure already created by the government on an eight-acre plot at Burari.

The training school, to be set up a cost of Rs 3 crore, is expected to start functioning in the next six to seven months.

"Since January, around 1,200 people have been killed in the capital in road accidents. In such a scenario, having training schools, especially for drivers of heavy vehicles is imperative," Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said after the signing of the agreement.

Talwar said such training institutes were also necessary in view of the upcoming induction of high-capacity buses in the city's fleet.

He reminded that a slew of judgments by the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court require the government to set up nine driver training schools in the capital, adding four such institutes were already in place.

"We are already running a one-of-its-kind driver training school in Namakkal in Tamil Nadu. So we have the experience required to churn out good heavy vehicle drivers," Seshasayee said.