Empowered group of state transport ministers formed to advise on road policy issues

The group will be headed by Yunus Khan, the PWD and Transport Minister of Rajasthan

To make the country’s transport sector modern, efficient and transparent, Union Minister of Road Transport & Highways and Shipping Nitin Gadkari has announced formation of an Empowered Group of State Transport Ministers. The empowered group will advice the government on policy issues. The Empowered Group will be headed by Yunus Khan, the PWD and Transport Minister of Rajasthan.

Gadkari made this announcement while addressing the 16th meeting of the National Road Safety Council and 37th meeting of the Transport Development Council in New Delhi today.

Speaking on the occasion he said that several state road transport corporations are incurring huge losses and the problem has to be addressed by developing an integrated approach for transport sector in the country. Gadkari said that the centre does not want to encroach upon the rights of the states; it rather wants that the revenues of the states should increase.

Emphasising on need to improve road safety in the country, Gadkari said that 720 black spots have been identified on National Highways across the country and Rs 11,000 crore have been earmarked to take remedial steps in this regard. He said that presently about 5 lakh accidents take place in the country in which about 1.5 lakh people die every year. The target is to reduce accidents by 50% in next five years. He said that to tackle the problem of traffic jams and accidents there is need for a Road Traffic Control system on the lines of Air Traffic Control and River Traffic Control which will use satellite based technology.