Maruti Suzuki has said it plans to train 500,000 drivers at its training facilities around the country in the current year. It has so far trained over two million people since the inception of its safe driving initiative with Institute of Driving Training and Research (IDTR) in partnership with the Delhi government in 2000.

Mayank Pareek, chief operating officer (marketing and sales), Maruti Suzuki, said, “We are happy that we have touched two million people, but realise that this is only a drop in the ocean.”

Maruti Suzuki manages six IDTRs including two in NCR and one each in Dehradun, Vadodara, Rohtak and Bahadurgarh, in partnership with the respective state governments. These institutes offer learner and refresher courses, including those for commercial vehicle drivers. Many trainees find jobs after they complete their training programmes. Maruti says over 1.3 million people have trained at IDTRs.

Maruti Suzuki also collaborates with its dealers who manage nearly 320 Maruti Driving Schools (MDS) across the country. These schools are equipped with driving simulators and offer a mix of class-room and practical training by trained instructors (including women). Over half of those trained at MDS are women.

The IDTRs and MDS also design customised programmes for companies, women, the police and paramilitary personnel. According to Maruti, about 5,000 tribals in Gujarat, many of them landless workers, found jobs or turned entrepreneurs after being trained in IDTR’s residential programme in Vadodara, run in partnership with the Gujarat government. Under its Safe Driving initiative, Maruti Suzuki also has the ‘Train the Trainer’ programme that helps further the impact.