The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Road Safety Patrol can be made mandatory in schools: Minister

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Nov 18, 2006
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Road Safety Patrol can be made mandatory in schools: Minister

Staff Reporter

Government sets up task force to study problems

SAFE PAIR OF HANDS: K. Mani receiving the Sreekumara Menon Award for the best autorickshaw driver, from Sharada Menon. Minister for School Education Thangam Thennarasu and Greater Chennai Commissioner of Police Letika Saran are also in the picture. — PHOTO: S.S. KUMAR

CHENNAI: Road Safety Patrol can be made mandatory in all schools in the State if the task force comes up with such a recommendation, Minister for School Education Thangam Thennarasu has said.

A task force was formed under the leadership of Sunil Kumar, joint commissioner of police, (traffic), Chennai, as the Government felt the need for greater awareness of road safety, he said at a State-level meeting of the task force held here on Friday. Its aim was to identify the problems schools in semi-urban and rural areas faced.

"We are looking for a comprehensive solution. Awards can be instituted for schools that do well in RSP," he said, giving away the Sreekumara Menon awards to traffic police personnel, autorickshaw and MTC drivers.

The awards to the tune of Rs. 1 lakh were instituted last year by Sharada Menon, wife of Sreekumara Menon, who had served as a deputy commissioner of traffic in Chennai Police and retired as Assistant Director-General of Police.

On Friday, headmasters from all the 30 districts presented papers on the methods they had adopted and would like the State Government to enforce, to ensure safe travel of children.

All the speakers noted that ignorance, combined with lack of strict enforcement on the part of the various departments involved in making the roads safe for travel, led to accidents.

The teachers wanted more speed-breakers, zebra crossings and walkways in front of schools.

Some teachers suggested that road safety lessons could be included in the textbook even from class 1 as poems and essays.

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