PM Modi talks about Kargil, road accidents; sidesteps politics on 'Mann Ki Baat'

New Delhi: Concerned over the high rate of casualties in accidents, the government will soon bring a Road Transport and Safety Bill and launch cashless treatment for mishap victims, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Sunday in his monthly radio programme while avoiding any mention of politics or the logjam in Parliament. In his 15-minute programme, he also hailed the armed forces in the context of Kargil Vijay Divas, paid tributes to the farming community and praised scientists, besides saying that a team of officials will pay a week-long visit to the Northeastern states to understand the problems of the region and address them. [caption id=“attachment_2345602” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Reuters[/caption] He also invited suggestions from the public which could form part of his this year’s Independence Day speech. While talking about various social issues, he avoided politics at a time when Parliament is unable to function because of a deadlock with opposition demanding resignation of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan over various controversies. Talking about road accidents, he mentioned the case of a scooter rider lying bleeding on a road in Delhi with nobody helping him. “Several people have been writing to me that I should speak on road safety to create awareness about it. When we see the figures, we notice that in India, an accident takes place every minute and a death due to these takes place every four minutes. Among the victims, one-third are in the age group of 15-25 years,” the Prime Minister noted. Keeping this in mind, the government will soon bring a Road Transport and Safety Bill, he said. The government is also planning other important measures like putting in place a National Road Safety Policy and Road Safety Action Plan, he said. A project under which cashless treatment will be given to accident victims, wherein the victim does not have to worry for the first 50 hours as to who pays the money for treatment, will also be launched soon, he said. The project will be launched in Gurgaon, Jaipur and Vadodara and then to Mumbai, Ranchi, Rungaon and Maurya national highways. The Prime Minister also promised to ensure that all villages in the country get 24-hour electricity under the Deen Dayal Upadhyay Gram Jyoti Yojana, which was launched by him in Patna on Saturday. “It is a difficult task but we have started work on this… India is such a big country and villages are so far-off but we will do it,” he said, while underlining that electricity is a key requirement for progress and a necessity in everyday life for everyone. Talking about the North East, Modi said that under the ‘Act East’ policy of his government, officials of the Ministry of Development of North East Region (DONER) will go to the states of the region. “They will hold seven-day camps, talk to people and address their problems,” he said. With regard to the farm sector, he expressed happiness that the Monsoon rainfall has been good so far and production of pulses and oilseeds has shown an increase of 50 per cent and 33 per cent respectively. After talking about ‘kisan’ (farmer), he spoke about the ‘jawan’ (soldier) on the Kargil Vijay Divas, celebrated on Sunday as a day of victory against Pakistan in the three-month conflict in Kargil in Jammu and Kashmir in 1999. He paid tributes to the armed forces and hailed their valour and sacrifices for the nation. “In Kargil, each of our soldier proved more than a 100 of the enemy. I salute to the brave soldiers who thwarted the evil designs of the enemy without caring for their own lives. The Kargil war was not fought only on the border but every village, every city contributed to it. “This war was fought by those mothers and sisters whose sons and brothers were in the battlefield. It was fought by those girls, who had just been married, those fathers who gave their sons and felt young themselves, and those sons who had not even learnt to walk properly holding the finger of their father. It is because of their sacrifices that India can move in the world holding its head high,” he said. While talking about ‘vigyan’ (science), he referred to the recent accomplishment of ISRO which launched five satellites of the United Kingdom, in first such feat. At the same time, he regretted that interest in science and technology was on the decline among the youth of today. To generate interest in research and development, he suggested holding of competitions in innovations nationally. In the context of the ‘Swacchh Bharat’ programme, Modi highlighted a case of a Madhya Pradesh village where locals have launched ‘Operation Mal Yudh’ (war against dirt). He said the locals had started a competition of ‘Brother No.1’, in which brothers would have to gift a toilet to his sister on the upcoming Raksha Bandhan festival and the best among them will be chosen for awards. Regarding the ‘mygov’ portal launched on this day a year ago, Modi said he had received almost 2 crore hits and several important suggestions were being made by the people. “We had committed to enhance people’s participation in democracy and make the people partners in developmental activities,” he said, while referring to a suggestion by a person from Kanpur that IRCTC portal should have facility to provide bookings for the disabled. “This suggestion was taken seriously by the government and now we have put this facility in place,” he said, adding that all major suggestions would be taken to their ends. He also urged the people to make their suggestions on the ‘mygov’ site on what issues he should speak on the upcoming Independence Day, while referring to a person from Chennai who suggested that he should raise issues like ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padao’, ‘Swachch Bharat’ and ‘Clean Ganga’. PTI