But the more important point is that Mr Modi is never known to have given any grant in the case of thousands of innocent pedestrians and other vulnerable road users who form a bulk of road crash victims in the country. Mr Modi has seldom shown any sensitivity to the fact that more people are killed in road accidents and crashes in India than anywhere in the world. We long overtook China in this respect.All over the world it is considered the responsibility of the political leadership to bring down road deaths and many Western countries have succeeded while India’s record is worsening every passing year. Former French president Jacques Chirac in particular brought down the numbers in 2003 after making this a main plank in his election campaign.Mr. Nitin Gadkari has shown more sensitivity to the issue than Mr Modi, partly because it comes directly under his ministry and he himself knows the trauma, having been confined to bed for a year after a car crash in the year 2001. He has gone on record to say that road deaths are also a form of epidemic, more serious than Covid deaths.The medical students all came from affluent families, mostly from the north and eastern states and were studying in a college run by the education empire set up by Datta Meghe, former Congress and BJP M.P. Such colleges charge astronomical fees and extract big donations. The students were on a joy ride to celebrate the birthday of one of them.Liquor consumption may have played a role in the crash, no other vehicle or pedestrian was in any way involved and it was being driven at a speed of about 140 kms per hour, according to records. The students do need sympathy, they are victims of a reckless culture of rash driving promoted by the government, irresponsible film stars and automobile companies.But pedestrians and cyclists from poor families are much more in need of financial assistance; often they are the main wage earners in the family. But the police machinery often under-reports road accidents, favours motorists and insurance companies go out of their way to deny legitimate relief to the poor.
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