By Fazeena Saleem
DOHA: In a new campaign, people in Qatar are urged to make a pledge with cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar to ensure road safety.
‘#iPledge’ is an initiative by the Aster DM Halthcare Group and implemented with Qatar National Traffic Safety Committee and General Directorate of Traffic and Public Relations Department of the Ministry of Interior.
The campaign aims to educate people, especially students, workers and taxi drivers. It will also host a poster contest and competitions on social media.
“Road traffic accidents are one of the leading causes of death and creating awareness about road safety to prevent them is a timely need.
“The campaign will focus on children because they can play a big role in influencing their parents,” Dr Sameer Moopen, CEO, DM healthcare group-Qatar, told a press conference yesterday.
Lt. Shaheen Rashid Al Atheeque, Public Relations Officer at the ministry; and Nikhil Joseph, Senior Manager, CRM, Aster DM Healthcare-Qatar were present.
Lt. Fahad Mubarak Al Abdullah, Traffic Awareness Officer, General Directorate of Traffic at the ministry, said, “The message reaches people more effectively when a popular personality is involved and we expect the campaign to reach everyone who use roads.
“Especially when we educate children about good road habits, they will implement them when they grow and have the ability to influence their parents or motorists to follow safety rules,” he added.
The campaign will keep ‘pledge with Sachin’ cutouts at shopping malls and other places. People are urged to make three pledges — not to be on the phone while driving; always wear seat belts; and use zebra crossing, subways and foot paths and post photos on social media.
The pledges will be in Arabic, English, Malayalam, Hindi, Urdu, Nepalese, Sinhalese and Tamil to reach out expatriate communities.
A digital poster competition among school students will also be held, along with a manual and digital poster competition on road safety for the public.
All poster campaigns will be judged by a panel of judges and depending on their popularity on social media.
All winners will be awarded cash prize, certificate, medal and copy of Tendulkar’s autobiography.
For the competition ‘Spot the taxi’, 135 Karwa taxis will take part in the campaign for two weeks, and people can take photos with the taxis and post on Aster safe roads page on Facebook.
The campaign ends on February 14, and the closing ceremony will be held on February 29 where the winners of the competitions will be honoured.
On February 7, the campaign will be launched in New Delhi by Tendulkar, and will be telecast live on NDTV Doha time 4.30pm.
The Peninsula
