Use best tech to minimise lives lost in road accidents: President

New Delhi: President Droupadi Murmu on Monday expressed her concern over the “high number” of road deaths across the country as she urged young officers joining the road engineering services to deploy best technology solutions to minimise such incidents.
She said this while addressing the Assistant Executive Engineers of Central Engineering Services (Roads) who called on her at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Officers from the Indian Posts and Telecommunication Accounts and Finance Service and Indian Naval Material Management Service also met the President, an official statement said.
“It is your responsibility to ensure that the infrastructure projects you undertake are energy efficient, eco-friendly and sustainable. You also have to ensure that these projects are accessible to our differently-abled citizens.
“I have noticed the high number of fatalities in road accidents across the country. I urge you all to innovate and implement the best engineering and technological solutions to minimise road accidents,” she told the central engineering services (roads) officers, as per an release issued by the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Murmu told the officers that ensuring safety of fellow citizens should be their “highest” priority. She told the officers, who are entrusted with building and maintaining national highways, that India has the second-largest road network in the world and this “vital infrastructure” was important for the economic growth and development of a nation.
Speaking to the officers of the Indian Posts and Telecommunication Accounts and Finance Service, the President said they should “continue to strive to connect the still unconnected masses especially in the rural and remote areas.”
“Today, India has the world’s second largest number of telecom subscribers with a user base of about 120 crore. We also have one of the cheapest telecommunication services in the world. Telecom sector has a crucial role in advancing digital connectivity for achieving rapid economic progress,” she said.
Talking about the ‘Digital India’ initiative, Murmu said the scheme was helping the government deliver various public services with more efficiency and transparency.
“You shall be carrying out important functions of revenue assessment and collection of licence fee and spectrum usage charges from the service providers.
There is rapid technological development taking place in the telecommunication sector and I am sure that you will continue to innovate and use technology in performing your duties,” she said.
She also said women should be adequately represented in the workforce. Addressing the officers of the Indian Naval Material Management Service, the President said they will “hold key responsibilities in ensuring availability of critical supplies to naval ships, submarines and aircrafts.”
“Maintaining a large inventory is a complex task. It requires good knowledge of supply chain management, technical knowledge of equipment and maintenance procedures,” Murmu told them.