Staff Reporter :
Bangladesh Jatri Kalyan Samity (Bangladesh Passengers Welfare Association), a passengers’ welfare platform, has demanded the formation of an ’emergency assistance fund’ to help the victims of road accidents.
The general secretary of the samity, Mohammad Mozammel Haque, made the demand at a press conference held in the auditorium of the Bangladesh Crime Reporters Association in the capital on Monday.
In order to provide financial support, the general secretary of the samity demanded that Tk 5 lakh should be given to the injured and Tk 20 lakh to the families of individual victims.
Mozammel Haque also demanded speedy implementation of passenger-friendly road transport rules to stop chaos, anarchy and passenger harassment in the public transport. And this is occurring due to the incompetence, negligence on duties, and corruption of the people who are involved in this sector.
He said a fund easily can be developed charging a minimum fixed fee for year-round fitness renewal and driving license issue from the sources of BRTA. If
funds can be raised for digital management through transparency and accountability, it is also possible to easily raise thousands of crores of taka every year, he added. “We have come to know that the government is going to formulate a new Road Transport Policy with the provision of Tk 3 lakh for those injured and Tk 5 lakh for the families of those deceased (in road crashes) which is quite insufficient,” he saiMozammel said, “We demand Tk 5 lakh assistance for each injured and Tk 20 lakh for each deceased’s family,” he added.
In the written statement, Mozammel said the Road Transport Act 2018 has been in force since November 2019, through which jail time and fines are being levied. However, road accident victims are being deprived of getting assistance or compensation.
As the board of trustees have not been formed to provide financial help, the victims of road accidents are not getting compensation.
He also urged to form a trustee board to handle the financial assistance fund. The fines that are levied on the vehicle owners could be deposited in the fund, he said.
Senior Joint General Secretary of Bangladesh Truck-Covered Van Owners Association Hossain Ahmed Majumder, Joint Secretary General of Jatri Kalyan Samity M. Monirul Haque and others were present at the event.
