New Delhi: In a unique initiative to spread public awareness about wearing helmets, Puducherry prison officials participated in a bike rally and crossed key intersections while taking a detour of the city. The Union Territory maintains a poor helmet compliance despite repeated law enforcement drives undertaken by Puducherry traffic police.
The bike rally, conceived and flagged off by Ravideep Singh Chahar, Puducherry Inspector General (Prisons) is a welcome step towards educating and enlightening people about the importance of wearing helmets and saving lives.
Many other senior officers, who actively took part in organising the road safety awareness campaign included Chief Superintendent of jails Mr Ramesh, Superintendent of jail Mr Gobinath Balakrishnan and DSP jail Mr V Baskaran.
“Helmet compliance is an issue here. This awarenes drive is an endeavour from our side to inform and educate public and also implement the basic road safety guidelines for better public good,” said IG, Prisons after launching the bike rally.
Poor enforcement of helmet rules in the Union Territory has costed the residents dearly. In recent past, many of the fatalities have been due to head injuries which could been avoided, had the riders wore headgear.
This out of the box idea by Ravideep Singh Chahar, IG (Prisons) is set to resonate well with the city residents as law enforcers have themselves sought to serve as a role model in creating public awareness.
“Our lives have become fast-paced and more demanding. But, this doesn’t mean that we don’t pay heed to basic safety guidelines as suggested by Government of India. Just by wearing helmets, a substantial chunk of fatal accidents can be stopped or physical damages minimized to small level,” said the IG, Prisons.
हेलमेट पर जागरुकता के लिए Puducherry Police ने निकाली बाइक रैली, Ravideep Singh Chahar, IG (Prisons) ने दिखाई हरी झंडी pic.twitter.com/IQgXzOjFc7
— Newsroom Post (@NewsroomPostCom) February 8, 2021
Puducherry administration, in the past, has organised road safety awareness campaigns and imposed penalty on errant drivers but that hasn’t yet achieved the desired objective. Addressing the gravity of issue, Puducherry Lieutenant Governor Kiran Bedi has also spoken about the urgent need to develop ‘helmet wearing culture’ in the UT, much like metro cities.
Globally, about 12 lakh people die as a result of road traffic crashes and millions more get injured or disabled. As per World Health Organisation (WHO) findings, wearing a helmet can decrease the risk and severity of injuries by upto 70% and the likelihood of death by 40%.
Puducherry IG (Prisons)’s push for reforms & ‘model jails’
Being the highest ranking officer in Puducherry’s Prison Department, Mr Ravideep has sought to implement reforms in the jails by making the jail management more efficient and treating the inmates with a ‘human touch’.
After taking charge as IG (Prisons), he has been holding regular review meeting with jail officials and guiding them on how to create ‘model prisons’, which could set the benchmark for other states and UTs.
Mr Ravideep, in conversation with Newsroompost.com, said that he feels honoured and privileged to work closely with Puducherry LG Kiran Bedi, an upright former cop whom many police officers look upto. Ms Kiran Bedi is known the world over for initiating prison reforms. Often described as ‘The Tihar Transformer’, her stellar role in transforming one of the toughest jails is already a sample study.
Ravideep Singh Chahar is a senior bureaucrat and holds charge of multiple departments in Pondicherry administration. He is also Special Officer, Municipalities, Director of Local Administration Department (LAD) and OSD in State Election Commission.
