UP govt rolls out 'Sadak Suraksha Mitra' initiative to mobilise youth to curb road fatalities

The Uttar Pradesh Transport Department on Tuesday launched the 'Sadak Suraksha Mitra' (SSM) programme, initiated by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH), with the aim to engage young people in road safety initiatives to reduce traffic accidents, enhance emergency response, and improve safety for citizens.

The initiative, launched in partnership with the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, seeks to train and deploy volunteers through the MYBharat platform to support crash-scene coordination, black-spot audits, awareness drives and data-backed road safety planning, an official statement said.

UP Transport Commissioner Brajesh Narain Singh, in a letter to the district magistrates of 28 districts, directed time-bound implementation of the programme through District Road Safety Committees (DRSC), with instructions to complete volunteer onboarding, training, and monthly performance reviews in line with MoRTH's 12-step roadmap.

"Sadak Suraksha Mitra is a national effort to convert the energy of our youth into tangible road-safety outcomes, guided by a policy of 'zero risk, zero friction.' MoRTH and the UP government desire every district to implement, within clear timelines and through the DRSC, a combined action plan covering crash-scene management, black-spot audits and public awareness, so that crashes and fatalities reduce, response times improve, and citizens' safety strengthens," the transport commissioner said in a statement.

The programme will be implemented in districts including Kanpur Nagar, Gautam Buddh Nagar, Lucknow, Prayagraj, Agra, Bareilly, Gorakhpur, Saharanpur, Mathura, Bulandshahr, Aligarh, Unnao, Hardoi, Sitapur, Kushinagar, Barabanki, Jaunpur, Budaun, Bijnor, Azamgarh, Fatehpur, Mainpuri, Firozabad, Raebareli, Sonbhadra, Lakhimpur Kheri, Shahjahanpur and Basti.

Under the initiative, volunteers aged between 18 and 28 will undergo structured training, including basic first aid and road safety audit techniques, with recognition and awards for exceptional performance. Data-gathering tools such as eDAR, Sanjaya and Field Perception Surveys will be deployed to map accident-prone areas.

Officials said the move comes amid a sustained effort by MoRTH to strengthen road safety mechanisms at the district level by engaging local youth, improving crash-scene response and creating data-driven road infrastructure interventions.

Uttar Pradesh is among the states reporting the highest number of fatalities in road crashes every year. On Monday, a collision between a tractor trolley and a truck in the Bulandshahar district resulted in the death of 11 people and injuries to another 40. Dozens of deaths in separate incidents are reported across the state on average every day, officials said.

Earlier this year, during a review meeting, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath emphasised the importance of reducing road crashes, along with the associated fatalities and injuries.

Officials noted that state authorities have previously implemented several measures, including the 'no helmet no fuel' drive and launched mass public awareness campaigns for road safety in a bid to check the number of accidents.