The rising number of accidents in Uttarakhand as well as in other parts of the country is a matter of great concern for all. Statistics reveal that around 10 per cent of the total road accidents of the world are reported from India. Uttarakhand Governor KK Paul appealed to the Rotary Club to take some measures to prevent accidents and fatalities.
The Governor was inaugurating a two-day district conference titled 'Saudamini', being organised by Rotary International District 3082 at IMA in Dehradun on Saturday.
The programme began with lighting of ceremonial lamp by the Governor, which was followed by an Odishi dance performance by Padmashri Geeta Mahalik.
Speaking as the chief guest, the Governor called upon the Rotary International to associate itself actively with national road safety and Swachh Bharat Mission.
He said that the Rotary is known for its service to humanity and has done excellent work, especially in the field of health. The remarkable contribution of Rotary in the eradication of polio from India is testimony to this.
Paul further said that he had been actively associated with the Rotary for the past around 30 years. He had closely seen how Rotary had participated in the efforts to help the youth of the north-eastern States, to emancipate them from addictions and also to better life for the slum-dwellers in Delhi.'
The Rotary has also done commendable work in developing human resources.The Governor appealed the Rotary to actively support the road safety and Swachh Bharat missions as it had done in the case of polio eradication.
He expressed concern over the growing incidence of fatal road accidents in the country and said road safety need to be focused upon. He said the status of India in this regard was the worst as compared to other countries.
In 2013 alone, there were 1,37,423 serious road accidents in India, a figure that is ten percent of the accidents all over the world.He said the Rotary would have to take initiatives to prepare and implement an action plans to minimise the loss of lives in road accidents.
Referring to the Swachh Bharat Mission, the Governor said that support was expected from the Rotary to create a clean environment in the slum areas of the country. The Rotary's activeness and cooperation would accelerate the success of this mission.Senior Rotarians from the country as well as abroad are attending this conference. Some of them are Dilip Patnaik, Raja Saboo, PT Prabhakar, Shaju Peter, Gulshan Thakral, VG Nayanar, RS Parmar, John Deysher and Bipin Berry.