Context:

• The Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways will be launching the 30th National Road Safety Week on February 4, 2019 with a host of initiatives planned for generating awareness and sensitising people about safe road usage.
• One of the primary initiatives planned as a part of the week includes the flag off of a motor car rally to commemorate the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi at an event at Rajghat in New Delhi by Union HRD Minister Rajnath Singh along with External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari.

Initiatives Planned:

• The motor car rally will travel through places historically associated with Gandhi, both in India, as well as in Bangladesh and Myanmar, taking up advocacy on Road Safety concerns along the route.
• The places include Sabarmati, Porbandar, Dandi, Yerwada, Sewagram, Jabalpur, Lucknow, Gorakhpur, Chauri Chaura, Champaran, Shantiniketan and Kolkata in India and Dhaka in Bangladesh.
• The rally will conclude at Yangon in Myanmar on February 24, 2019, covering a total distance of 7250 km.
• It is a part of the year-long celebrations to commemorate the 150th year of Mahatma Gandhi in India and across the globe, initiated by the union government on October 2, 2018.
• Besides this, the road safety week would also witness the launch of Dash Board for Road Accident Data of India and its states.
• The Society of Indian Automobile Industry will also declare 2019 as the Year of Road Safety on the occasion, to underline its commitment and support for promoting safety on Indian roads.
• The occasion will also see initiatives being taken to involve people in promoting the cause of road safety.