No hesitation in removing non-performing officers: Nitin Gadkari

NEW DELHI: Union minister Nitin Gadkari has sent out a warning to non-performing officers, saying the government will not hesitate to remove those who delay processes because of their inactivity.

Addressing a road safety stakeholders meet here on Monday, the minister of road transport, highways and MSME said his department will keep a record to ascertain which officers should be retired compulsorily. “All these non-performing, dead assets in the government, I have no hesitation in ousting them,” Gadkari said.

“These people are insensitive, they can’t make decisions, make incorrect DPRs, keep squatting on files and don’t even let others make decisions,” Gadkari said.


The minister said the roads ministry has empowered field officers to take decisions, and those indulging in red tape will be shown the door. He said the government is working to identify black spots as it embarks on a drive to make the country’s roads safer.

Gadkari said the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank have both agreed to sanction Rs 7,000 crore each to help the transport ministry work on road safety. In 2018, road accidents claimed over 150,000 lives in India, according to a recent report by the transport ministry.

India, ranks 1st in the number of road accident deaths across the 199 countries reported in the World Road Statistics, 2018, followed by China and the US. As per the WHO Global Report on Road Safety 2018, India accounts for almost 11% of the accident-related deaths in the world.

“In the last five years, we tried to reduce road accidents. We didn’t achieve as much success as we should have. Instead, accidents increased by 4%,” Gadkari said, adding that the government aims to reduce road accidents by at least 50% in the next five years.