The Hindu : New Delhi News : National Highways Authority of India to launch toll-free number

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Wednesday, Aug 25, 2010
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National Highways Authority of India to launch toll-free number

K.Balchand

NEW DELHI: The National Highway Authority of India(NHAI) has decided to launch a four digit toll free number to benefit distressed road users in not only saving their lives, but also helping in all possible ways and notably better the road safety in the country.

The NHAI has decided to set up five call centres covering the eastern, western, northern, southern and central regions. It is proposed to set them up in backward districts and tribal areas so that they also serve a social development purpose.

These decisions were taken in the light of the fact that more than one lakh people die in road accidents in India every year, the highest in the world. The poor sections of the people account for 70 per cent of the fatalities.

The social cost of road accidents has been estimated at three per cent of the GDP.

Save lives

The objective behind the move is to provide timely treatment to the injured and save their lives.These call centres will also arrange for services for clearing obstruction of highways due to falling of trees, dharnas, flat tyres,and bad road conditions, and improve maintenance of roads and facilities to serve the road users better.

Each call centre will have at least 15 persons working in each shift, five of whom will have to do bilingual servicing in Hindi and English. The other 10 are expected to be proficient in languages specific to the region, covering about 19 languages of the country.

The NHAI has floated the tenders and officials expect the call centres to be in place by the beginning of next year.

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