This is unique initiative where the traffic police and company have roped in young children to drive home the message of road safety and be road safety ambassadors or champions.
Winners will be enrolled as road safety ambassadors, they have pledged that they would not sit quietly while Papaji/Tauji did his zara-sa-wrong-side act. Innovatively, the company feels if the car declares it is Pinky te Sonu de papa di gaddi, then it is a good strategy to give Pinky and Sonu some role to ensure that Papaji follows rules.
The Gurgaon Road Safety Mega Festival ensures compulsory participation in painting and quiz competitions from all government and private schools across the region. Besides, Nukkad Nataks and Shayari competitions will take the festival to a higher level of participation and culminating in Road Safety Week in January 2014.
The primary class children upto 5th can express themselves through paintings competition. The Quiz completion will be divided into two levels - Juniors (Class 6th to 8th) and Seniors (9th to 12th).
Nukkad Natak is an optional event and school can nominate one team. In keeping with times, the Gurgaon Traffic Police will be hosting the Shayari competition online on its facebook page (www.facebook.com/gtproadsafety) and selected winners will be felicitated.
MSIL supported the 1st round of Quiz competition of Gurgaon Road Mega Festival by providing reading material and question papers with answer sheets. More than 4 Lac students participated in the prelims from more than 350 schools on 8th November 2013. The Quiz competition now moves into second round tomorrow and schools will form own teams to participate.
Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Bharti Arora said “We look forward to engaging our children in helping us solve some of the road safety problems on our roads, by improving their knowledge of rules through quiz participation, and influencing the adults who drive them”.
Mr. Mahesh Rajoria, GM, IDTR, Maruti Suzuki, said, “India has just 1% of the world's vehicles but 10% of world accidents. Road discipline has always been a talking point across age groups. A strong strategy to counter this is to bring much-need safety and discipline to our roads. We look forward to these children as road safety ambassadors and extend a profound influence on their parents, relatives and neighborhood”.
MSIL philosophy is driven by not just imparting better driving skills, but also inculcates safe driving culture through special theoretical session for behaviourial training and road sense. In other parts of country, street plays, joint promotional campaigns with the Traffic Police Departments, Canter Activity, and radio and outdoor campaigns.