An Initiative For Road Safety Awareness & Usher Behavioural Change

To raise awareness about the importance of road safety, a four-hour telethon is set to take place as part of the “Sadak Suraksha Abhiyan” initiative. There is an immediate need to help bring forth behavioural change amongst people across India to make our roads safer for all road users. To this end, an outreach campaign has been envisioned with the objective of increasing awareness amongst people with regard to the dangers of not following traffic regulations and helping promote a sense of shared responsibility toward road safety.

The engaging four-hour telethon will not only help evoke awareness among viewers, but will also inspire a sense of responsibility to safeguard human life. The telethon is scheduled to be televised on January 14, 2023, on Network18 channels, News18 India, CNN-News18, CNBC TV18 & CNBC Awaaz from 10 am to 2 pm.

The distinguished dignitaries to grace the occasion will include Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister, Road Transport and Highways; Padma Vibhushan and veteran actor Amitabh Bachchan; Padma Vibhushan and Founder of Isha Foundation, Sadhguru; Poet, thinker, chairman, McCann Worldgroup Asia Pacific, Prasoon Joshi, and the founder and CEO of SaveLIFEFoundation, Piyush Tewari.

The grand telethon aims to establish why it is imperative for every citizen to understand that road safety is the need of the hour, that safety gear should be used at all times and that traffic rules should be followed to ensure the safety of oneself as well as fellow road users.

Through the course of the telethon, these key dignitaries and stakeholders will also explain and highlight the importance of stronger and stringent traffic laws and a penalty system as well as innovations in the field of road safety, to help avert accidents and subsequent fatalities and injuries.

The preeminent event will also include families of road crash victims sharing their personal experience and the work that they have done in the field of road safety. They include Shilpa Mittal, a crusader against underage driving; Savita Bhatti, actor, writer and activist and Dr. Shubhangi Sanjay Tambwekar and Sanjay Achyut Tambwekar, co-founders of the Arundhati Foundation.

Rishabh Anand, Founder of Rise Up, a cartoon playschool for children dedicated towards educating them about road safety will also be a part of the telethon.

Anand, together with his students will share insights on educating young impressionable minds on road safety and instilling in them a collective sense of responsibility to bring forth a generation of model law-abiding citizens.

Expressing his gratitude, Prasoon Joshi said, “It is really great to have led the thinking with our teams for this much needed initiative – Sadak Suraksha Abhiyan, a focussed campaign on road safety. With rapid growth and progress in infrastructure India is leapfrogging in to new era. Simultaneously there are emerging challenges like road safety which need to be addressed. Educating the masses as well as highlighting to other stakeholders the importance of road safety and instilling a sense of responsibility is the need of the hour. Let us all pledge to adhere to traffic laws and bring behavioural change in ourselves to ensure safer road journeys”.

Speaking about the initiative, the Founder and CEO of SaveLIFE Foundation, Piyush Tewari, said, “Roads are both shared assets as well as shared responsibilities, and well-informed, responsible road users can join hands with the government to help take proactive steps towards making roads across India safer for themselves and others. I am certain that the Sadak Suraksha Abhiyan will drive behaviour change at scale and help make our roads safer.”

Be a part of this initiative and let’s pledge road safety. Join the telethon on January 14, 10 AM onwards.

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