Road safety to give firms tax benefits

Maharashtra highway police authority is inviting corporate houses to contribute towards road safety activities following the Centre’s directive which state that companies will get 50% exemption on income tax for their contributions.

The state highway police authority is inviting corporate houses to contribute towards road safety activities following the Centre’s directive which state that companies will get 50% exemption on income tax for their contributions.

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“We expect that companies will come forward and play some role in road safety activities as the Central government has decided to give them tax benefits,” said Vijay Kamble, additional director general of the highway police, adding that they recently received a copy of the circular.

Addressing a conference on road safety at Andheri last week, Kamble had highlighted the need for aggressive road safety measures, as more people die in road accidents than in disasters or disease outbreaks.

Every year, over 13,000 people die in road accidents across the state.

Last year 13,333 people were killed in road accidents, while this year 6,804 people have died till June end, he said.

According to highway police officials, there are no dedicated funds to carry out road safety activities across the state.

Since 2011, the highway police have started various efforts to spread awareness among people about road safety.

Apart from various road safety seminars for drivers, the highway police aim to spread awareness among school- and college-going students.

“It is tough to change habits of people over age 30 so we are focusing on students. We want to catch them young,” said a senior highway police official.