CHENNAI: To hasten improvements in road safety, the state government has replaced the Tamil Nadu Road Safety Fund, which was created in 2000, with the Tamil Nadu Non-Lapsable Road Safety Fund (TNNLRSF).
The government had allocated Rs 65 crore annually from 2012 to 2021 to improve road safety. The new fund is aimed at minimising the delays in conventional funding mechanisms and facilitating innovative interventions towards the vision of ‘Accident-free Tamil Nadu by 2030’. The transport department notified the formation of TNNLRSF on November 30.
Unlike the road safety fund, the newly-formed fund can be utilised without any financial-year barriers, said officials. The road safety fund depended on money received through spot fines and compounding fees collected by the police and transport department.
However, the TNNLRSF will depend on grants from the state and central governments, international organisations, corporate social responsibility funds, and non-profit organisations, besides 50% of the compounding fees collected under Motor Vehicles Rules and spot fines, said the notification.
The fund will be used for measures such as road engineering, traffic enforcement, and trauma care, and to raise awareness about road safety. It will be managed by the inter-departmental committee headed by the home secretary and comprising the highways, finance, transport, police, and health departments. Funds will be managed by the road safety commissioner, added the order.
“There has been ambiguity over whether funds for road safety initiatives should be allocated by the department or sourced from the road safety fund. We have now clearly laid down instructions for which tasks the funds can be utilised,” said an official.
The fund will be used for tasks such as purchasing barricades, cones, and other traffic-regulating equipment, studies to collect data on black spots, quality analysis, and other accident-rectification work, said the order.