Mumbai, Jun 8 (PTI) Despite Maharashtra witnessing 36,567 fatalities and 83,820 road accidents between January 2023 and April 2025, a top road safety council headed by the state transport minister has not met even once in two years, officials said on Sunday.

Such is the situation that current transport minister Pratap Sarnaik said he was not even aware of the existence of the State Road Safety Council.

The last meeting of the State Road Safety Council was held on April 4, 2023 under Eknath Shinde, current Deputy Chief Minister. He was CM at the time and held the transport portfolio, these officials said.

After the Maharashtra government constituted the council as per rule 215 of Central Motor Vehicles Rules in May 2015, biannual meetings, which are mandatory, were held regularly till 2019, following which which only four meetings took place till 2023, they pointed out.

From 2015, there should have been 20 meetings of the State Road Safety Council as per rules but only 12 have taken place, a senior official said on condition of anonymity.

As per officials, the council mainly reviews accident data, monitors the implementation of safety measures, and issues policy directives, adding that it is a crucial platform for eradication of black spots, assess enforcement gaps, and coordinate between various departments.

Its complete inaction reflects administrative apathy, a retired RTO official said.

"I am unaware of the existence of the State Road Safety Council. It is unfortunate my department did not even inform me about such an important body. I will convene a meeting of this council in June itself," Sarnaik, when contacted, told PTI.

Maharashtra Transport Commissioner Vivek Bhimanwar, who is also member-secretary of the council, said meetings could not be held primarily due to the election code of conduct.

Maharashtra witnessed Lok Sabha polls in May-June 2024 and assembly polls some months later in November.

Bhimanwar, however, said several other meetings, including those of high-power committees, were held to discuss road safety issues and important decisions were taken.

The file for convening a meeting of the State Road Safety Council is in motion and it will happen soon, he asserted.

Activists and experts emphasized that meetings of statutory bodies like the State Road Safety Council must be conducted regularly.

"In order to achieve the target of reducing deaths and injuries by 50 per cent by 2030, we need to have a clear action plan with targets for each department and associated budgets, said Ranjit Gadgil, programme director of Pune-based NGO Parisar.

"Rajasthan has recently made such a plan. Maharashtra should also revise the 2018 action plan and develop a programme, which should be reviewed periodically by statutory committees such as the State Road Safety Council," Gadgil said.

Maharashtra has over 4 crore registered vehicles, and witnesses more than 35,000 accidents and 15,000 deaths annually, with the grim figures continuing to rise, raising serious questions on effectiveness of road safety measures, experts said.

The transport department has been with the Shiv Sena since Shinde became CM in June 2022. He held it in his government and Sarnaik became transport minister when the Devendra Fadnavis dispensation came to power in December last year.

RTO officials said it was the responsibility of the transport minister or transport commissioner to convene meetings of the council.

On May 13, 2015, the Maharashtra government constituted the State Road Safety Council headed by the transport minister, along with district road safety committees.

The Maharashtra transport commissioner is member-secretary of the 22-member committee, which includes eight special invitees.

Other members include the Public Works Department (PWD) Minister, Minister of State for Transport, Minister of State for PWD, and senior officials from the Home Department, Transport Department, BMC, MSRTC, and Highway Police.

Special invitees include senior officials from the Public Health Department, Urban Development Department, MMRDA, and DGIPR, along with the Director of Doordarshan, President of WIAA, and President of the Maharashtra Truck Tempo Owners Association. PTI KK BNM