IIT Madras CoERS Trains Youth Road Safety Volunteers Nationwide

India's road safety mission has found a new force in its youth. The Centre of Excellence for Road Safety (CoERS) at IIT Madras, operating under the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, concluded its first-ever physical Sadak Suraksha Mitra training workshop at Faridabad from March 16 to 18, 2026 — a three-day programme that transformed 53 ordinary citizens from 5 states and 13 districts into trained, community-embedded road safety volunteers, ready to take the fight against road accidents directly to the district level.

A Youth-Led Movement for Road Safety

The Sadak Suraksha Mitra programme represents a significant institutional effort to harness the energy, reach, and commitment of India's youth in the service of road safety. Rather than limiting road safety intervention to government agencies and law enforcement, the programme envisions a nationwide network of trained community volunteers who actively support District Road Safety Committees (DRSCs) and drive local-level change in accident prevention, emergency response, and safety governance.

The inaugural physical workshop brought together volunteers from across five states and thirteen districts — a diverse cohort united by a shared commitment to making India's roads safer. The three-day format was designed to be intensive and practical, equipping participants not merely with theoretical knowledge but with actionable skills they can deploy immediately within their districts upon returning home.

The programme was concluded with a valedictory session at MoRTH headquarters in New Delhi, where senior ministry officials addressed volunteers and reinforced the national significance of their grassroots contributions to road safety.

Training Focus Areas for SSM Volunteers

Three Pillars of District-Level Road Safety Support

The workshop trained SSM volunteers to support District Road Safety Committees across three critical and complementary areas of road safety management.

• First Response to Accidents: Volunteers were equipped with life-saving first response skills — including CPR, basic trauma management, and emergency helpline activation — enabling them to provide critical assistance in the crucial minutes immediately following a road accident, before professional medical help arrives.

• Road Safety Audits: Participants were trained to conduct structured road safety audits at the district level, identifying hazardous stretches, missing signage, damaged infrastructure, and other engineering deficiencies that contribute to accidents. This skill transforms volunteers into frontline diagnosticians of road safety risks in their own communities.

• Administrative Support for District Road Safety Initiatives: Volunteers were also prepared to provide organisational and administrative support to DRSCs — helping coordinate meetings, document safety concerns, follow up on interventions, and maintain the institutional momentum that district-level road safety programmes require to deliver sustained outcomes.

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Secretary V Umashankar Addresses Road Safety Champions

Grassroots Action as the Foundation of Road Safety

The workshop concluded with a powerful address by Shri V Umashankar, Secretary, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, who spoke directly to the assembled volunteers and stakeholders about the critical importance of community-level intervention in India's road safety landscape. Expressing pride in the participation of road safety leaders from across the country, he urged every volunteer to translate their workshop learnings into concrete, measurable outcomes at the district level.

Secretary Umashankar drew a clear and important distinction between reactive and preventive approaches to road safety. While post-accident responses — including CPR and emergency service coordination — are undeniably crucial, he stressed that preventing accidents from occurring in the first place must remain the primary focus of every volunteer's efforts. He emphasised that every road accident has an identifiable underlying cause, and that systematically identifying and addressing these causes is the most effective pathway to preventing recurrence and saving lives.

Every Life Saved Is a Significant Achievement

Addressing the volunteers with both urgency and encouragement, the Secretary highlighted that road accidents remain one of the leading causes of death in India — disproportionately affecting the younger population. He called upon the SSM volunteers to approach their mission with unwavering dedication and commitment, reminding them that saving even a single life constitutes a significant and meaningful achievement — one worth every effort they invest in their communities.

Key Road Safety Statistics Highlighted at the Workshop

Two-Wheeler Fatalities and Helmet Usage

Secretary Umashankar drew attention to a set of critical statistics that frame the scale and nature of India's road safety challenge. He highlighted that nearly 45% of road accident fatalities in India involve two-wheeler riders — a figure that places helmet usage at the centre of any effective road safety strategy. The non-use of helmets remains a major contributing factor to these deaths, and the Secretary called for intensified awareness campaigns and deep community engagement to drive a sustained cultural shift toward universal helmet adoption.

Pedestrian Safety Demands Infrastructure Action

The Secretary also underscored that approximately 20% of road accident fatalities involve pedestrians — a statistic that speaks directly to the inadequacy of pedestrian infrastructure across India's urban and rural road network. Addressing pedestrian safety requires more than awareness; it demands improved footpaths, safer crossings, traffic-calming measures, and a fundamental reorientation of road design priorities toward the most vulnerable users of public space.

Problem-Solving Approach to Accident Prevention

Diagnosing Road Safety Like a Doctor Diagnoses a Patient

One of the most memorable and instructive dimensions of Secretary Umashankar's address was his framing of the volunteer's role as analogous to that of a physician. He advised SSM volunteers to treat each road accident case as unique — approaching it with the same diagnostic rigour that a doctor brings to a patient before prescribing treatment. Rather than applying generic solutions, volunteers were encouraged to investigate the specific local causes of accidents in their districts and to advocate for targeted, evidence-based remedies with district authorities.

This problem-solving orientation is central to the Sadak Suraksha Mitra philosophy — recognising that road safety solutions are most effective when they are locally grounded, context-specific, and driven by people who understand their own communities from the inside.

Government's Targeted Interventions in High-Risk Districts

100 High-Accident Districts Identified for Priority Action

Reaffirming the Government's data-driven approach to road safety, Secretary Umashankar informed participants that 100 districts with the highest concentration of road accidents have already been identified for targeted interventions. This focus on geographic prioritisation — directing resources and energy toward the areas of highest risk — reflects the kind of strategic thinking that road safety experts have long advocated as essential for achieving meaningful reductions in national fatality numbers.

A Pledge to Prevent Accidents and Save Lives

The Secretary concluded his address by urging every SSM volunteer to take a personal pledge to prevent accidents and save lives within their respective areas of operation. Likening their role to that of soldiers serving the nation, he expressed confidence that when the volunteer cohort reconvenes after six months, measurable and visible progress will be evident in their districts — a testament to the power of committed, community-level road safety action.

Senior ministry officials including Shri Mahmood Ahmed, Additional Secretary, and Shri R.P. Shukla, Director, were present at the valedictory session, lending institutional weight to the occasion and signalling MoRTH's sustained commitment to the Sadak Suraksha Mitra programme as a cornerstone of India's grassroots road safety strategy.