Haryana Police is lagging behind in Road Safety Fund expenditure, revealed the state government’s response to a question asked by the MLA. Information has been given by the state government that Rs 170 crore was allocated to the police for road safety, but it was able to spend only Rs 72.12 crore in a period of 5 years, while there are 51,975 road accidents in the state from 2018 to 2022. About 24,303 people died and 43,681 people were injured.
However, the figures for the current financial year have not yet been made public by the government. Currently, the DGP of Haryana is Shatrujit Kapoor.
The amount allotted to the police by the Haryana government was to be used for necessary works for road safety. Under this item, devices like reflectors, warning boards, and convex mirrors were to be installed on the roads, but the police have been negligent in this. Congress MLA from Mulana Varun Chaudhary alleged that the government itself has been negligent in this matter. If it had been reviewed from time to time by ministers, thousands of lives could have been saved.
Generally, road safety funds are allocated directly to the districts by the Director General of Police (DGP). After this, the utilization of funds depends on the traffic in charge of the district. In some places, the police works with Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) on road safety, but in some places, nothing is done. Some experts say that to curb this matter, timely review should be done by the police headquarters at the district level.
Congress MLA Varun Chaudhary, who sought information from the state government regarding road safety, said that it is surprising that the police did not utilize the funds to make people aware. He alleged that this amount was collected by challenging common people. He said that many times people’s lives can be saved even by spending small amounts, but the government is not taking an interest in it.
