Indian Institute of Technology Madras will collaborate with the Government of Rajasthan to help it implement a structured framework for a data-driven systems approach to road safety. An MoU for this collaboration was signed recently between the Rajasthan Government represented by its Shri Ravi Jain, Transport Commissioner, and IIT Madras by Prof Ravindra Gettu, Dean (Industrial Consultancy and Sponsored Research), IIT Madras.
The key objective of this collaboration is to enhance road safety measures, increase capacity and capability across the board in the Government to both increase the survivability of road accident victims and reduce the occurrence rate in the State. Marking the beginning of this partnership, Pratap Singh Khachariyawas, Minister for Transport, Government of Rajasthan, said, “Our Government has always been very determined in strengthening our State’s road safety measures so as to reduce the number of road accidents and fatalities from it considerably. In this regard, we are extremely delighted to join hands with RBG Labs at IIT Madras to help implement the Tamil Nadu Model of Road Safety and are ever ready to facilitate interactions between the stakeholders of Government of Rajasthan and IIT Madras.”
Speaking on the association, Ravindra Gettu, Dean (Industrial Consultancy and Sponsored Research), IIT Madras, said, “This MoU will foster a collaborative partnership wherein IIT Madras will be building the capability of various stakeholders in Government of Rajasthan and help them design and implement a successful road safety program.” This collaboration will involve various stakeholder Departments in Govt. of Rajasthan involved in road safety including Public Works Department (PWD), National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), police, health and medical services, among other agencies.
Elaborating on this engagement, Venkatesh Balasubramanian, Faculty In-Charge, Rehabilitation Bioengineering Group (RBG) Labs, Department of Engineering Design, IIT Madras, who is coordinating this initiative, said, “Roads are shared asset and the safety on them is a collective responsibility of all the stakeholders. However, without having an overt and specific responsibility, it can be easily lost between the gaps. Therefore, it is quintessential to develop a good strategy based on data. It is, therefore, necessary to have a design thinking approach to solve the problem by not just identifying the issues but implementing changes that are sustainable in the local conditions.”
Prof. Venkatesh Balasubramanian added, “The breadth of this engagement is a testament to the benefit it will bring to both the partners. With requisite orientation and training programmes, the stakeholders from the State of Rajasthan are expected to develop both capacity and capability. This will be essential in implementing and using the information from the magnum opus of road accident data from MoRTH, i.e., ‘Integrated Road Accident Database’ (iRAD).”
