Bollywood star Akshay Kumar is set to become the brand ambassador for the government's road safety awareness campaign.
Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari today said, "I have talked to Akshay Kumar and he said that he will fully cooperate with us. He said he will be our brand ambassador."
The minister was speaking at Uber road safety awareness event in New Delhi.
"We will ask celebrities...So that they call upon people, which will have a positive impact on the new generation," the minister said.
He said the biggest priority of his ministry was to reduce the number of road accident deaths.
Besides, the minister said pollution was a big concern for his ministry and in a bid to curb vehicular pollution, the Centre has decided to implement stricter emission norms of Bharat Stage (BS) VI from April 1, 2020.
"Petroleum ministry is spending around Rs 90,000 crore to improve its refinery ...And yesterday it (petroleum ministry) said, from Mathura...Refinery they are able to provide fuel which is required for Euro VI," he said.
India stands committed to reducing road accidents by 50 per cent by 2020.
As part of the plan to reduce fatalities, the transport ministry has undertaken Rs 12,000 crore project to rectify black spots, Gadkari had earlier said.
