Residents of Hyderabad who indulge in drunk driving may soon face trouble if they get caught by the authorities. The Cyberabad Traffic Police has been shooting off letters informing the Human Resources (HR) Department about all employees of companies in their jurisdiction who are caught violating the law.
One such letter has also been doing the rounds on social media.
“It is to inform that one of your employees was caught while driving under the influence of alcohol on November 23 at Parvatnagar in the limits of the Madhapur Traffic Police. The person underwent counselling at Traffic Institute, Cyberabad. On November 28, he attended court at Kukatpally and was sentenced to four days imprisonment from November 28 to December 1,” the letter by the Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Cyberabad Traffic Police, Vijay Kumar, stated.
The letter, which was addressed to a software company in Gachibowli added, “As you must be aware, the legal permissible blood alcohol content for driving a vehicle in India is only 30 mg/100 ml. Also, it is to inform you that a large number of road traffic accidents are due to driving under the influence of alcohol. It not only puts the concerned person at risk but also other innocent road users. Being highly educated and responsible citizens, IT employees need to be ideally following traffic rules and thereby leading the way in bringing discipline on roads in Hyderabad city.”
“Hence it is requested to urge all your employees to follow traffic rules without fail and co-operate with the traffic police to ensure safety of all road users,” the DCP stated.
Speaking to TNM, the DCP said that they came up with the idea based on public feedback.
“The public generally tells us that in India, the penalty amounts are very less and that it why there is this attitude in the public when it comes to following traffic rules. Changing the penalty amount is not in our hands and raising it steeply can’t be done because of socio-economic reasons, so we were thinking of different ways to bring in a deterrent, especially in the case of government employees and private employees. So, we decided to bring it to the knowledge of their employers, so that everybody will feel the pinch,” the police officer stated.
Asked why employees in specific were under the radar, Vijay Kumar said, “They are educated and they are working. They are responsible employees. They have responsibility as they know the law as well. So, there is no excuse over there. Therefore, without any compromise we are writing.”
“Our intention is to bring a sense of responsibility as the people take refuge under anonymity, keeping it as a secret from their family and office. Once it is known to their employers, their colleagues will also get to know. We don’t expect companies to take any action. We just want to inculcate a sense of responsibility from the person who is caught. There should also be a little fear among them,” he added.
Asked about the response the police have received, Vijay Kumar said that many companies had replied to the department, thanking them for informing.
“Some even proactively responded stating that they are taking up sensitisation programmes among their employees,” the DCP added.
With inputs from Shilpa S Ranipeta.