the goan I network
PANAJI
With the ghastly mishap at Verna which claimed the lives of 3 teens fresh in mind, calls for strict monitoring of minors not only by parents and police but also by teachers and the society at large is growing louder by the day.
Minors driving four-wheelers or riding two-wheelers, especially, on village roads is a common site in Goa. The scene is more common in villages, as is found that mostly in villages, there is lack of vigilance by traffic police. The figures of minors caught in the act of driving or riding in the past couple of years is rising, the recent accident at Verna plateau is a fresh example.
“There is need to put a strict vigil on these minor, underage drivers not only by the police, but by parents, teachers and society, as well,” states Gurunath Kelekar, convenor, MARG, an NGO that’s being working towards road awareness among students and safe, accident-free driving.
Should the age to drive should be brought down to 16, instead of 18, because many of the boys, with parent’s encouragement, learn to drive a car at the age of 14. What about the awareness of being responsible for their acts, which may land others on road, into trouble spot? Kelekar opines that instead of holding children responsible for driving when underage, their parents should be strictly warned and penalty should be slapped against them, for handing over the keys of the vehicle to their minor children. However, Kelekar further, argues that sometimes parents are helpless and succumb to their children’s undue demands.
“Today’s children are stubborn, especially if he or she is the only child and they force their parents to fulfil their undue demands. Parents oblige as otherwise the children threaten them of committing suicide. So generally, it the responsibility of parents to raise their children in such a way that they grow up into a responsible citizen,” states Kelekar.
On the other hand, Roland Martins, convenor, Goa Consumer Action Network (GOACAN) has brought to the notice of the South Goa
Collector and District Magistrate in a letter that there has been an increase in the number of serious injuries and deaths of students from schools and higher secondary schools in road accidents in South Goa district wherein the students have been found to be riding/driving vehicles without valid licences.
Giving a wake-up call to all concerned authorities and stake-holders, Martins has requested to cordon off the Verna plateau and to come up with immediate solutions to tackle minor, underage driving issue in the state, which is worsening day by day, taking toll of young lives.
Citing reasons for accidents in this particular stretch of road, Martins points out that the roads in the area are being developed for the expansion of the industrial estate, and that the area being private and isolated, with no watch cover of police, youngsters feel free to indulge in drag races. There is need to educate the students as well as parents and teachers, about road safety and safe driving.
Martins also feels it necessary to take steps to reach out to the managements and heads of the educational institutions and their parent-teachers’ associations to work out a comprehensive action plan to curb the use of vehicles by students without valid licences, before the start of the next academic year 2020-21.
He urges to call a meeting to prepare this action plan by involving the Education department, the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) and the Goa Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education (GBSHSE). And as there are now Road Safety and Traffic Management (RSTM) Committees in village panchayats and municipal councils it would also be appropriate to involve the Directorate of Panchayats and Directorate of Municipal Administration, Directorate of Transport and Traffic Police too, in the preparation of this action plan, he states.
