The great comedian and satirist, late Jaspal Bhatti, who had died in a road accident in October 2013, has once again been made the brand ambassador of Chandigarh Traffic Police.
After withdrawing Bhatti’s name as their brand ambassador in April this year, the Chandigarh Traffic Police has announced to make him the brand ambassador till November 1, 2014.On the first death anniversary of Jaspal Bhatti last year, the UT Traffic Police had announced him as its brand ambassador. However, following his wife, Savita Bhatti’s association with Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the Chandigarh Traffic Police withdraw his name as its brand ambassador.
During lok Sabha elections 2014, Savita Bhatti was declared as AAP’s candidate from Chandigarh, however, she had withdrawn her candidature and also left the party later.Savita had also written to UT Police about the withdrawal of her name from the political party and had requested the Chandigarh Traffic Police to re-appoint her late husband as their brand ambassador.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, a spokesperson of Chandigarh Traffic Police stated, “Since, Savita Bhatti is no more associated with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), therefore, now there will be no political linkage of late Jaspal Bhatti with any political party. Accordingly, late Jaspal Bhatti, the great comedian and satirist is again made the brand ambassador for the Chandigarh Traffic Police till November 1, 2014 as per the original agreement.”
Notably, the objective to select Bhatti as brand ambassador was to ensure that no more precious lives were lost in road accidents.In a bid to provide safer environment on city roads and curb the escalating number of road accidents every year, the UT Administration had also announced its road safety policy 2014.
According to the UT Traffic Police data, a total of 410 accidents killed 117 people in 2013 while 136 people had died in 419 accidents reported in the previous year 2012 in Chandigarh. While pedestrian deaths were 34.18 per cent in 2013, it was 32.35 per cent of the total accidents in 2012.
During the last five years, the average number of deaths due to road accidents in Chandigarh is around 150. The number of deaths due to road accidents in Chandigarh is 10.5 per 1 lakh population and the national average of 32.3 per 1 lakh population.
Bhatti had died in a car accident near Jalandhar in Punjab in October 2012 and since then, his wife Savita and her family have been propagating the message of wearing seat belts along with the Chandigarh Police.