In a much-needed step towards making Indian roads safer and provide drivers better-quality training, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highway (MoRTH) has taken an initiative to set up Institutes for Driver Training and Research (IDTRs) and Regional Driving Training Centres (RDTCs) in various states and Union territories (UTs).

The ministry has asked states and UTs to send proposals before August 2014. Detailed guidelines regarding the financial implications, required infrastructure and other criteria have already been issued. According to the ministry guidelines, IDTR preference will be given to PPP models and states wherein IDTR and DTI were not sanctioned earlier. RDTC proposals for setting up driving training centres at existing ITIs will be considered and all women-driving training centres will be given preference.    

The ministry is mulling setting up IDTRs in a two-tier system. In Tier 1, the model driver training institute will have a 10- to 15-acre site with complete infrastructure required for a modern IDTR. Tier 2 RDTCs are proposed to be developed across states excluding the district in the state where the IDTR is proposed or developed, preferably on land measuring a minimum of three acres with basic support infrastructure including testing tracks. The ministry may provide 100 percent of the capital investment up to Rs 17 crore to IDRT and Rs 5 crore for RDTCs.

In an earlier interaction with Autocar Professional, Deepak Baid, director of Siddhi Vinayak Logistic Ltd, called for enhanced driver training to making commercial vehicles safer on road. He added that government should make a certificate compulsory from a driver training institute before applying for a permanent or renewal of license at the RTOs for drivers of commercial vehicles.

Indian roads: a death trap

It is no secret that roads across the country are death traps and India has the dubious reputation of having among the largest number of road accident fatalities annually in the world. In 2012, as per the results of a government study, 139,091 people were killed in 440,042 road accidents in India with over 469,000 injured in that year. In the five-year period of 2008 to 2012, 654,998 people were killed across the country due to road accidents. An overwhelming 78 percent of the road accidents are due to driver error, which is pointer to where the problem lies – lax driver licensing rules in most parts of the country. 

This is an area where some OEMs are taking active measures to improve the quality of drivers in India.  Maruti Suzuki, which opened its first IDTR in the year 2000, operates 6 IDTRs in various states including Delhi (2 institutes), Haryana (2 institutes), Gujarat and Uttarakhand. The IDTRs are spread across 10 acres and are equipped with a training and testing track. 

Photograph: Maruti Suzuki has six IDTRs in India.