Chandigarh: The Punjab Cabinet led by chief minister Bhagwant Mann on Friday gave the nod for constituting the “Sadak Surakhya Force’’ (road safety force) in the state.
An official spokesperson said that the Cabinet gave its consent to launch this force as a plan for road safety for covering 5,500 km of state and national highways.
The Cabinet opined that Punjab had witnessed a significant increase in traffic and road infrastructure over the past few decades - a total 72,078 km-long road network with national and state Highways constituting 5.64 % (4,025 kms) of it.
The Cabinet expressed concern that 65% of road fatalities took place on national and state highways adding that in the year 2021, 4,476 lives were lost in 580 road accidents, most of which took place between 6 pm to 12 pm, when the presence of police on these roads is minimal.
As many as 144 patrolling vehicles, fitted with specialized equipment to check drunken driving and overspeeding, would be deployed on these routes, each covering a distance of 30 kilometres. An amount of Rs 30 crore would be spent on the purchase of vehicles and equipment, and around 5,000 police personnel would be deployed in this force.
Facilitation center at IGI Airport
The Cabinet gave approval to set up a ``Facilitation Center’’ for the NRIs landing at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport in New Delhi. This centre would be manned 24x7 and would provide assistance to all the NRIs and other passengers arriving at the terminal. The passengers/relatives would be given assistance regarding arrival flights, connecting flights, taxi services, lost luggage facilities and others at the airport.
Go-ahead to use of AI in governance
The Cabinet also gave a nod to use Artificial Intelligence (AI) in further improving the governance in the state. The decision aims at making the state a front-runner in the usage of AI in governance and providing better services to the citizens of Punjab. The AI can be helpful in reducing road accident fatalities, checking tax evasion, improving health services, improving citizen interface and others, the spokesperson held. A Centre for Emerging Technologies has already been set up in the Punjab State Governance Society.
