Gopal Mani, 50, has spent years in the corporate world and his speciality is in training and skill development. He worked for several large corporations, But finally decided to do something on his own. It was a tragedy in his family that changed the course of his life. S Balakrishnan met up with him in his office at Vashi, Navi Mumbai.
Excerpts from an interview:
Q. What made you quit a cushy job and embark on your own?
A. My father was working for the State Bank of India in Chennai. On July 12, 2003, he was returning with 20 other officers from Puducherry to Chennai in a Tempo Traveller. They were travelling on the Eastern Coastal Road when the driver suddenly lost control over the vehicle and rammed into a tree. Three people, included my father, died on the spot. That accident impacted my family in a big way.
My mother was in an extreme state of shock. That incident set me thinking. I did a lot of study about road accidents. More than 1.5 lakh people die in road accidents every year in our country and double that number get injured. An accident devastates an entire family. I decided to do something about it. I realised that one of the reason for road accidents was the lack of adequate training of drivers. I set up a foundation to impart skills, among other things, to truck drivers.
Q. One of the main reasons for the poor quality of drivers in our country is the extremely high levels of corruption in the road transport department. Driving licences are issued without proper tests and verification. Often a cleaner graduates from cleaning a truck to getting behind the wheel.
A. Corruption is certainly a major problem. But instead of merely complaining about it I should do something to encourage safe driving practices. I personally feel that road safety should be a part of the curriculum at the school level. Also, there should be adequate training facilities. My team of young engineers has created a 3D simulator where actual road conditions in India are simulated. So even before getting behind the wheel of a vehicle, the trainee is exposed to road conditions as they occur in our country. The results are very encouraging. The key parameters are engineering, education, and enforcement.
Q. How many drivers has your institution trained so far?
A. Till date we have trained about one lakh drivers, including 12,000 women. They are government certified. At present 20 of our drivers are driving long haul trucks in Germany. In Europe there is a huge demand for trained drivers and we are trying to meet that demand. There is still a lot of work to be done. There are grey areas in road traffic rules. For example, many do not know whether they should stop their vehicle if the signal turns amber or go ahead. We are trying to educate both existing drivers and the ones who are entering the job market.
