Life on Highways

Ramesh KumarAuthor, An Affair With Indian Highways

December 18, 2013 @ Agra

Snapshot• 21,000 Km on Indian Highways

Entire India, except J&K

• 3 Books- 10,000 Km on Indian Highways- Naked Banana!- An Affair With Indian Highways

• Catalogued US Library of Congress

Snapshot• Member

NCCD-National Committee on Supply Chain & Logistics

• Consultant-Driver WelfareMahindra Logistics

• Advisor- Driver WelfareSiddhi Vinayak Logistics

• Collaborator – Driver EducationAutomotive Skill Devt Council

Snapshot• Founder-Chairperson

KRK Foundation

Objective“To IMPROVE THE WORKING & LIVING CONDITIONS of truck drivers and their families living in remote villages of India”

• WHO CARES …Dining @ highways dhabas: unhygienic & lacks balanced diet

• WHO CARES…No Toilets …. Hide behind bushes with bottled water

• WHO CARES…Cosy sleeping quarters…. On the road… On smelly dhaba cots/driver cabins

• WHO CARES…Highways Vultures…. RTOs & Traffic Inspectors… UP, bad apple

• WHO CARES…Inter-state border crossing – cumbersome & time-consuming

• Temperature-controlled chambers for perishables…Not for driver cabins!

• SAFETY CHALLENGE…Do you know majority of drivers can’t understand highways signs?

• SAFETY CHALLENGE…Why? License ‘BOUGHT’ with BRIBE! Not undergone tests!

• DHABA DIALOGUE…Educating or creating AWARENESS about Road Signage Programme

• FAMILY CONNECT…Away from home. None to care healthcare/education of family

• FAMILY CONNECT…Involve fleet owners & socially conscious business houses

• FAMILY CONNECT…Children in villages enjoy the ‘balloon’ contest @ Bundi, Rajasthan

• FAMILY CONNECT…Visiting the hospitalised driver in Nashik, Maharashtra

• FAMILY CONNECT…Visiting Driver Balwinder Singh on Diwali 2013 day for lunch.

What you can do…

• Pay attention to your drivers• Treat them like human beings• No driver, no future • Best of products, if not evacuated in time, will

PERISH.• Driver welfare is to protect your OWN welfare

THANK YOU!