The World Bank has given the green light for a $250 million loan towards the India State Support Program for Road Safety. The program, involving seven states, will establish a single accident reporting number to more effectively control post-crash situations.
An Overview of the World Bank
Founded in 1944 as the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) along with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the IBRD later evolved into what we now know as the World Bank. This organization is a unique global consortium of five institutions aiming to foster sustainable solutions to alleviate poverty and promote shared prosperity in developing nations.
The World bank comprises 189 member countries, including India, and publishes major reports such as the Human Capital Index and the World Development Report. The five developmental institutions that make up the World Bank are the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), International Development Association (IDA), International Finance Corporation (IFC), Multilateral Guarantee Agency (MIGA), and the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) – of which India is not a member.
The Key Features of the Road Safety Program
This newly approved project aims to set up a uniform national crash database system to analyze accidents and utilize this data to construct safer roads. The loan funds, sourced from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), have an 18-years maturity period, including a grace period of 5.5 years.
The program will be executed in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal. It will fund the network expansion of basic and advanced life support ambulances and train first responder caregivers to assist road crash victims on the spot. Furthermore, it will offer incentives to the states to attract private funding via Public Private Partnership (PPP) concessions and launch pilot initiatives.
Gender Equity and Road Safety
The program acknowledges the indirect impact of road accidents on women and aims to address this issue by promoting women’s representation in administrative roles within the road safety sector. It will also create employment opportunities for women, particularly in post-crash care management and control centers.
An Insight into India’s Road Accident Scenario
Road accidents account for a significant drain on the Indian economy, estimated at 5-7% of the GDP annually. Official government data reveals that road accidents cause approximately 150,000 fatalities and injure another 450,000 individuals each year. Pedestrians, cyclists, and motorcyclists constitute more than half of these victims, with nearly 84% of all fatalities being road users aged 18-60 years.
Lower-income households, which make up 70% of crash victims, bear a larger share of the socio-economic burden of road accidents due to loss of income, high medical costs, and limited access to social safety networks.
National Initiatives to Enhance Road Safety
India has undertaken several initiatives to enhance road safety. For instance, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) participated in the Third High-Level Global Conference on Road Safety for Achieving Global Goals 2030’ in Sweden in 2020. The conference proposed a target of zero road fatalities in India by 2030.
As part of its commitment to reducing fatalities, India signed the Brasilia declaration at the Second Global High-Level Conference on Road Safety held in Brazil. Additionally, the country passed the Motor Vehicles (MV) (Amendment) Act, 2019, increasing penalties for traffic violations, defective vehicles, and juvenile driving, among others. The Act also established a Motor Vehicle Accident Fund to provide compulsory insurance cover for all road users in India for specific types of accidents.
