local MP Rabindra Kumar Jena moved a significant Bill on Friday in the Parliament which was accepted for discussion. The Bill was doing rounds for years and had been in the draft stage.
It was accepted after Jena moved it. The Bill is titled ‘National Road Transport Safety and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill-2015”.
The objective of the Bill is to reduce significantly a high number of road accidents resulting deaths and injuries by establishing a protective framework for all classes of road users, including vulnerable road users, fixing accountability on and establishing minimum safety standard for road users, owners and vehicle manufacturers, enhancing enforcement and improving overall road discipline etc.
“In every four minute in India, a road accident death is reported aggregating 1.5 lakh per year. As many as 5 lakh injury cases are reported per annum. The total cost of it on the budget is about Rs 4 lakh crore, which is about 3.5 per cent of the GDP. This is very alarming,” Jena said.
“leniency and flexibility were found in the current draft. There is no special care for children and vulnerable people. Keeping in view as the ministry failed to introduce the Bill, I was working on it for about four months and made a more comprehensive and stringent draft taking all aspects into account. I moved the Bill as private one today. The Bill was accepted for discussion,” he added.