Ponnam Unveils Arrive Alive Road Safety Campaign

Telangana Transport Minister Ponnam Prabhakar today released the poster for the "Arrive Alive" road safety campaign, at the Khairatabad Transport Department office in Hyderabad, as part of the Praja Palana Pragathi initiative.

Special Chief Secretary Vikas Raj, Transport Commissioner K Ilambarthi, RTC Managing Director Nagi Reddy and JTC Chandrasekhar Goud participated in the program.

Addressing the gathering, the minister said that the campaign would be conducted jointly by the police and the transport departments from April 13 to 18, to promote road safety.

He said that the initiative aimed to identify the causes of road accidents, create awareness about traffic rules and implement measures to reduce accidents.

The transport department was also taking steps towards environmental protection and would ensure strict enforcement of traffic regulations, he added.

"Reforms such as the removal of check posts have now been implemented. Steps are also being taken to educate students in all schools about traffic rules. The department has also decided to honour RTC drivers who complete 30 years of service without a single accident," he added

He also reminded people that anyone who admitted road accident victims to hospitals within the "golden hour" after an accident would be eligible for the Rah-Veer Award (Rs 25,000 and a certificate).

The minister also said that departmental reviews would be conducted across all districts over six days, and directed officials to organise road safety meetings in every district.

Responding to the RTC strike issue, he said that the proposal for the merger of the RTC with the government was under consideration by a committee. He said that the government was ready to discuss all issues except two pending matters. He advised RTC employees not to resort to instigated strikes, and pointed out that the pending Dearness Allowance (DA) hike had already been released, and that the government was also considering the Pay Revision Commission (PRC).