New Delhi, Feb 23: The Government of India has been honoured with the prestigious Prince Michael Decade of Action Road Safety Award for its efforts in enhancing vehicle safety standards over the past ten years.

The recognition acknowledges key advancements, such as the introduction of a new car safety assessment programme and the mandate for anti-lock braking systems (ABS) in all new two-wheelers manufactured in the country.

The global awards for road safety were presented at the 4th Ministerial Conference on Road Safety, held in Marrakech. India shared this honour with Morocco, which was also recognised for its contributions to road safety.

Heads of Transportation from various countries across the world attended the Marrakech conference convened to draw up strategies for reducing "global road fatalities by 50 per cent by 2030".

Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways, Ajay Tamta, accepted the award for the Government of India from Etienne Krug of the World Health Organisation (WHO).

While reading out the award citation, Tamta highlighted the significant policy shift that began in 2014, following independent crash tests of Indian cars. This led to a revised framework for vehicle safety standards introduced by the Road Transport Ministry.

In 2018, the Narendra Modi government outlined a roadmap to align India's vehicle safety norms with European standards by 2023.

The coveted global award also assumes significance in the backdrop of a 60 per cent surge in the length of India's National Highway network in the last 10 years from 91,287 km in 2014 to 146,195 km in 2024, making it the second largest road network in the world, according to official figures.

In a landmark achievement National High-Speed Corridors have also increased from a mere 93 km in 2014 to 2,474 km in 2024 which reflects the quantum improvement in the country's infrastructure.

The rapid growth in the country's highways has taken place due to undertaken by the Government of India including flagship programmes such as the Bharatmala Pariyojana,

Another 2,540 km of highways have been added through externally aided projects with loan assistance from the World Bank, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

(IANS)

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