NCC Cadets To Turn ‘Junior Rakshaks’ For Accident Victims In Odisha

Bhubaneswar: National Cadet Corps (NCC) cadets will be providing first aid to road accident victims as ‘Junior Rakshaks’ in Odisha.

The State Transport Department on Wednesday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in this regard with the National Cadet Corps (NCC) at Lok Seva Bhawan in Bhubaneswar.

Additional Commissioner Transport (Road Safety) Lal Mohan Sethi and NCC Odisha Director Sagar K Mohanty signed the MoU in presence of Minister of Commerce & Transport Department & Water Resource Tukuni Sahu. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik attended the event virtually.

According to the agreement, the department will train around 62,000 NCC cadets as first responders to save lives of those injured in road accidents. About 20,000 cadets will be trained every year at various NCC camps in the state.

It is pertinent to mention here that the CM had launched the ‘Rakshak’ programme in 2021 to train volunteers selected from local communities as first responders in road accidents. The aim was to save the lives of road accident victims within the ‘golden hour’ by providing effective first aid and transporting the injured persons to nearest hospitals.

So far, over 12,000 first responders selected from roadside communities have been trained across districts of Odisha.

Sahu also inaugurated the Automated Driving Testing System (ADTS) at Angul, Dhenkanal, Rourkela, Sundergarh, Keonjhar and Ganjam and laid the foundation stone of 23 truck terminals across the state, where basic amenities along with cargo loading and unloading, and fuelling, will be made available for the drivers.

A ‘Yearbook on Road Accidents in Odisha’, was also unveiled on the occasion. The book provides insights into the trends and patterns of road accidents in the state.