Mr. Kamal Nath, Union Minister for Urban Development, inaugurated Ashok Leyland’s new driver training institute (DTI) at Chhindwara in Madhya Pradesh on Febraury 18 in the presence of several dignitaries both from the Government and the company.
For Ashok Leyland, this institute sponsored by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, is the third after the DTIs in Namakkal in Tamil Nadu and Burari near Delhi.
Speaking at the inaugural ceremony, Mr. Kamal Nath said: “Against a backdrop of a serious shortage of skilled drivers in the road transport sector, the need for well-trained commercial vehicle drivers has assumed grave criticality. I am aware of the pioneering work that Ashok Leyland has already done in the area of providing trained drivers to the industry, and today’s inauguration of this new driver training institute is one more significant step in the right direction. I am delighted that this institute will also help create more employment opportunities for the youth of this region by facilitating trainees transition into a career.”
Spread over 15 acres, this new facility at Chhindwara is equipped with all necessary facilities for heavy commercial vehicle driver training like vehicles, tracks of various configurations, classrooms, a state-of-the-art driver training simulator, etc.
“Our Driver Care programme connects with the driver community at three levels,” said Mr. R. Seshasayee, Executive Vice Chairman, Ashok Leyland. “At the core is their relationship with our vehicles, and we have constantly been working at improving their overall drivability. At an important second level are our driver training institutes that train and prepare drivers for life both on and off the road. Finally, there is an emotional connect, for which we have some key initiatives in place in the areas of health and education for their betterment.”
As part of the company’s driver care programme is ‘Arogya’, a health initiative, with a medical center set up at Hosur in Tamil Nadu where drivers can avail of free medical check-ups and consultations. Another initiative is the ‘All the Best’ scheme, a scholarship programme for top-performing children of drivers. Launched in Tamil Nadu and Kerala two years ago, this scheme has benefitted 650 deserving children thus far.
Ashok Leyland’s DTIs at Namakkal and Burari are considered among the most comprehensive in India’s private sector that have cumulatively trained over five lakh drivers so far. Two more of the company’s driving training institutes, at Kaithal in Haryana and Bhubaneswar, are due for inauguration soon, while another one at Rajsamand in Rajasthan is under construction.