Nagpur: Union minister Nitin Gadkari said on Sunday that road accidents claim more lives in India than terrorist attacks, riots, wars and even Covid, predominantly due to a lack of fear of law.He was speaking at the concluding ceremony of a training programme for 1,400 tribal teachers organised by the Laxmanrao Mankar Trust.“People neither respect nor fear the law,” Gadkari said, pointing out that around five lakh people die in road accidents in the country every year. Gadkari said the sacrifices of freedom fighters had secured Swarajya (self-rule) for the country, but the responsibility now was to transform it into Surajya (good governance).He said building a good society required sustained efforts in four areas — Lok Prabodhan, Lok Shikshan, Lok Sangharsh and Lok Sanskar — which he described as important pillars of social development. Gadkari also stressed the need for individuals to improve themselves continuously. “No one is perfect and nobody can claim that they are,” he said, adding that people needed to work on their skills, knowledge, values and thoughts while developing a new vision and direction to become responsible citizens.Referring to the tribal teachers’ training programme, Gadkari said the initiative was being conducted at a “holy and sacred” location — the premises of the Anusuaya Mata temple. He recalled that his mother regularly visited the temple.He said work in the field of tribal education had been continuing for nearly three decades. Recalling the contribution of former MP Laxmanrao Mankar, Gadkari said Mankar, who was himself a teacher, had worked as an RSS swayamsevak, a member of the Jan Sangh and later the BJP.After Mankar withdrew from electoral politics and focused on strengthening the organisation, his health deteriorated and he died. Gadkari recalled that after his cremation at Amgaon, those returning to Nagpur felt the need to carry forward his ideals, leading to the establishment of the trust.Gadkari said technology should be used to take the trust’s work to a wider audience. Recalling a song he used to sing during his ABVP days about lighting a lamp where there was darkness, he said the objective should be to take society from darkness to light, ignorance to knowledge and poverty to prosperity.Quoting Dr BR Ambedkar, Gadkari said education was like “tigress’s milk” and emphasised its transformative power.He also offered space at his Agrovision building for the trust to set up a digital studio, where patriotic songs could be produced and skill-development workshops conducted.
