Delhi Government will soon launch an initiative under which drivers of public transport vehicles will be given training on safe driving with an aim to bring down the number of road accidents in the city.
The proposal for such a programme was put forward today by Union Oil Minister M Veerappa Moily while launching a free insurance scheme for drivers of public transport vehicles run on CNG and Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit agreed to it immediately.
Delhi Transport Minister Ramakant Goswami said the city government will soon finalise the scheme under which all drivers of public transport will be educated on safe driving.
Goswami said Delhi government will next month send a detail proposal in this regard to Union Petroleum Ministry as Moily has agreed to provide financial assistance for the programme.
"We will finalise the proposal after holding consultation with various stakeholders. Increasing number of road accidents is a matter of concern and through this initiative we will try to cut road accidents," Goswami said.
Officials said there are nearly one lakh public service vehicles, including around 70,000 auto-rickshaws.
Delhi witnessed over 1,786 fatal road accidents last year, as per official figures. The number of fatal accidents reported in 2011 were 2,047. A total of 6,792 people were also were injured in 4,786 minor accidents.
