Tata AIG General Insurance Company, a joint venture between the Tata Group and American International Group (AIG) has collaborated with Tata Motors and Skills For Progress (SKIP), to launch a road safety programme for heavy motor vehicle (HMV) drivers in India.

The program will be launched across five locations in India – Pune, Ajmer, Muktasar, Silchar and Dimapur and will reach out to more than 5,000 heavy motor vehicles (HMV) drivers.

The program will incorporate defensive driving training, medical checkups, awareness on prevention of HIV/AIDS, substance abuse and stress management intervention. Additionally, personal accident insurance coverage will also be provided to the drivers.

This collaborative initiative aims at reducing deaths and injuries caused by accidents on Indian roads and thereby will contribute towards achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 3 (SDG 3) on ‘Good Health’.

The project will be monitored closely to track the progress in the behaviour of truck drivers after the training. Incorporating the learning from this pilot project, Tata AIG and Tata Motors intend to increase their outreach over the years. The program will be implemented in partnership with Skills for Progress (SKIP), Institute of Driving Training & Research (IDTR) and other implementing agencies on the ground.

Speaking about the CSR initiative, Vinod Kulkarni, Head - CSR, Tata Motors said, “India loses 3 percent of its GDP (or US $58 billion) to road accidents annually. This implies that skilled drivers are one of the key movers of the national growth agenda. As a responsible corporate, our attempt is to reduce the loss of both - life and property on the roads on one hand and enable the transport industry to bring in business efficiency by optimising their human capital on the other hand. Through our partnership with Tata AIG to launch this Road Safety Program, we intend to educate the truck drivers about road safety and ensure their journeys are safe and comfortable.” 

Subramanian Suryanarayanan, chief human resource officer, Tata AIG said, “We at Tata AIG understand that the truck drivers ply across the country and spend most of their time on the roads and it becomes extremely essential to ensure the well-being of these drivers, who are the lifelines of various businesses. We intend to work closely with them to reduce fatalities and to safeguard their own health by engaging them in our Road safety Program and thereby contribute towards achieving the sustainable development goals in the long run. The Road Safety Program is one of our flagship initiatives under our CSR umbrella and we intend to build on the learning from this pilot initiative.”

Also read: Over 50% of Indian truckers suffer from health issues: Study