National Safety Day 2021: 'Sadak Suraksha' theme to be observed this year

This year, the focus of National Safety Day is on road safety and the theme is ‘Sadak Suraksha’ (road safety).

March 4 is observed every year as National Safety Day in India with the purpose of creating awareness among people with respect to safety measures. The day seeks to increase awareness about all guidelines, which includes road safety, workplace safety, the safety of human health as well as the environment. This year, the focus of National Safety Day is on road safety and the theme is ‘Sadak Suraksha’ (road safety). The celebrations this year have also been spread over a week and National Safety Week will be observed from March 4 to March 10, in order to highlight the importance of safety on the roads.

Road safety has been given top priority in the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill, 2019 and proposes stiff penalties for traffic offences.(HT PHOTO)

History of National Safety Day

The Union ministry of labour and employment organised a conference on industrial safety for the first time from December 11 to 13, 1965. During the conference, a need was felt for safety councils on national and state levels and a proposal for a National Safety Council was then accepted in the 24th session of the standing labour committee. The campaign for the National Safety Day was born half a decade later, on March 4, 1972, to mark the National Safety Council’s day of formation.

The National Safety Council is a non-profit, self-financing and tripartite apex body set up to generate, develop and sustain a voluntary movement on safety, health and environment at the national level.

Road safety in India

Data from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) shows that 421,104 accidental human deaths occurred in the year 2019 out of which traffic accidents alone were 467,171 in number.

Last month, while inaugurating the Road Safety Month, Union road, transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari said that the government is working on its promise to ensure road safety and reduce accidental deaths as well. "We had promised to reduce road fatalities by 50 per cent. Tamil Nadu has done it, with a success rate of 53 per cent. If we wait till 2030, 6-7 lakh more people will die. So, we've made a commitment that before 2025, road accidents and deaths due to it will be brought down by 50 per cent with help of people's participation," Gadkari said.