HIGHLIGHTING the importance of road safety in the country, Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways while speaking at the Hero MotoCorp CSR programme to celebrate International Women’s Day said, “There is need to create more awareness about road safety among the people. People need to follow the rules and regulations and be responsible while driving.” Jaiprakash Gupta, Member, Khadi and Village Industry Commission, V S Sirpurkar, Retd Chief Justice and Ashish Rathi, Senior Area Manager, Hero MotoCorp were also present on the occasion. Gadkari said, “It is seen that lakhs of people loose their lives due to road accidents in the country which can be avoided if they follow simple rules.” Gadkari also administered the Road Safety oath to all the women police and people present at the programme. Apart from this, he said that he has a vision to make the country a better place to live in and free from all kinds of pollution.

 

A country with no air, noise, water and environment pollution. For this he wants to drastically cut petrol and diesel imports and save precious foreign exchange. He said that he is in talks with all the major automobile manufacturers to introduce vehicles with flex engines which can run on alternate fuels such as ethanol, CNG, LNG, electricity, green hydrogen and other sources. Currently, the country imports petrol and diesel of about Rs 15 lakh crore which is huge drain on foreign exchange reserves of India. He said, “We appreciate Hero MotoCorp for taking the initiative and partnering with the Nagpur Police and Fire Department on the occasion of International Women’s Day. This is an excellent example of a corporate and local authorities collaborating together to ensure the safety of citizens, particularly women.” To celebrate International Women’s Day, Hero MotoCorp under its CSR initiative distributed 60 Pleasure scooters and 500 helmets to the Police Commissionerate and Fire Department of Nagpur to promote road safety and women empowerment. The new Hero scooters are equipped with sirens, loudspeakers and other essential police accessories, to empower officers in the city to adequately perform their patrolling duties.

 

Vikram Kasbekar, Executive Director, Hero MotoCorp said, “As a responsible corporate, Hero MotoCorp has always been committed to creating mass public awareness about Road Safety and Women Empowerment. As an ongoing initiative, we are partnering with several state police departments, empowering police officers with effective mobility options. Our association with the Nagpur Police and Fire departments is reaffirmation of our commitment to creating a safe and secure city.”

 

Addressing the gathering, Dr Prakash Jain, Proprietor, Hero Aditya agency in Nagpur, said “In collaboration with Hero MoroCorp, we will continue to promote road safety and women empowerment in the city and its surrounding areas. We highly value our partnership with the local administration and police department and we will keep strengthening this association through various Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives.” Hero’s Corporate Social Responsibility is always concerned with women empowerment and accordingly Hero MotoCorp distributed 6 women achievers awards which were selected from various fields offering their services to the society. The awards were given to Prajakta Lavangare Verma, first woman Divisional Commissioner of Nagpur Division; Aswati Dorje, Joint Commissioner of Police; DCP Vinita Sahu; Dr Sharda Naidu, Principal of IDCPE College from the field of education; Sarita Kaushik, Editor-Vidarbha ABP Network and Snehal Shinde, a women entrepreneur.