E-Paper
Punjab cabinet nod to set up Sadak Surakhya Force
144 patrolling vehicles, fitted with equipment to check drunken, rash driving, will be deployed on accident-prone routes
The Punjab Cabinet on Friday gave its nod to set up Sadak Surakhya Force (SSF) in the state to streamline traffic movement and check accidents in the state.
A decision to this effect was taken in the meeting of the council of ministers held here under the chairmanship of the chief minister Bhagwant Mann.
Around 5,000 police personnel will be a part of the ‘SSF’ out of which around 1,500 will be immediately deployed from among the newly recruited personnel.
Disclosing this here, a spokesperson of the chief minister’s office said the cabinet gave its consent to set up the force as a plan for road safety and cover 5500km of state and national highways.
The cabinet opined that Punjab has witnessed a significant increase in traffic and road infrastructure over the past few decades. The state has a 72,078 km long road network including the national and state highways which constitute 5.64% (4,025 km) of the same.
The cabinet expressed concern that 65% of road fatalities take place on national and state highways adding that in the year 2021, 4,476 lives were lost in 580 road accidents.
Most of these fatal accidents take place between 6 pm to 12 pm when the presence of police on these roads is minimal.
As per the decision of the cabinet, highway patrol routes have been identified based on the past years’ road accident trends.
As many as 144 patrolling vehicles, fitted with specialised equipment to check drunken driving and overspeeding, will be deployed on these routes, each covering a distance of 30km. An amount of ₹30 crore will be spent on the purchase of the vehicles and the equipment.
Maytyrs’ memorial in every district
In another decision, the cabinet also gave consent to set up a martyrs’ memorial in every district as a mark of respect to freedom fighters and national heroes who laid down their lives either during the freedom struggle or any war, the statement said.
This memorial will have the names of the martyrs and great freedom fathers, from that respective district, who had sacrificed their lives during the freedom struggle so that their enormous contribution can be perpetuated to the younger generations.
This memorial will further inspire the coming generations for selfless service towards the country and its people.
Facilitation centre at IGI for NRIs
The cabinet gave approval to set up a “facilitation centre” at the arrival hall of the International Terminal of the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi.
This centre will be manned 24x7 and will assist all the NRIs and other passengers arriving at the terminal.
Efforts will be made to provide suitable sitting arrangements for the passengers or their relatives in the centre.
The passengers/relatives will be assisted with arrival flights, connecting flights, taxi services, lost luggage facilities and others at the airport. In case passengers desire, the centre will have tie-ups with taxi services available at reasonable rates. In addition, it will also have vehicles at its disposal for helping passengers with local movement to Puniab Bhawan and at other places in close vicinity.
The Cabinet also gave a nod to use Artificial Intelligence (AI) in further improving the governance in the state. The decision aims at making the state a front-runner in the usage of AI in governance and providing better services to the citizens of Punjab. AI can be helpful in reducing road accident fatalities, checking tax evasion, improving health services, improving citizen interface and others.
To commemorate the third phase of ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’, the cabinet also recommended the special remission of 45 convicts confined in jails across the state on Independence Day. After the nod of the cabinet under Article 163 of the Constitution of India, these special remission cases will be submitted to the Punjab governor under Article 161 of the Indian Constitution for consideration.
