“Come Home Safe” Mission: Odisha government to expand Zero Accident Day Campaign to Keonjhar

Bhubaneswar(By Abhishek Mohanty): In a decisive step towards strengthening road safety under the Come Home Safe vision of Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, the Commerce & Transport Department announced the launch of the second phase of the Zero Accident Day (ZAD) campaign in Keonjhar.

The district, identified as one of Odisha’s major accident hotspots, has also been recognized by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) and IIT Madras as part of the Top 100 Districts for Data-Driven Hyperlocal Interventions (DDHI), underscoring the urgency of this initiative.

The ZAD initiative has already demonstrated encouraging results in Bhubaneswar, where accident fatalities have shown a declining trend due to data-driven interventions and community participation. 

Building on this success, the state government is now extending the campaign to Keonjhar with a targeted and comprehensive action plan. 

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A high-level strategy meeting chaired by Principal Secretary Usha Padhee and Transport Commissioner Amitabh Thakur, and attended by the Collector of Keonjhar, finalized the roadmap to reduce accidents and fatalities in the district. 

The meeting brought together state nodal officers, the district administration, and technical experts from RBG Labs, IIT Madras, the Department’s technical consultant. During the meeting, IIT Madras presented a 14-day decentralized, data-driven ZAD action plan focusing on targeted interventions at identified accident-prone areas.

As part of the campaign, a series of multi-layered initiatives will be rolled out across blocks and villages. These include community-level dialogues under the banner of “Cha Au Charcha” near accident-prone zones, training of Sahayaks and Raahveers as first responders, awareness sessions for school children to nurture them as future safe drivers, specialized training for drivers working in mining and industrial areas, and public messaging through All India Radio programs, among other activities designed to promote road safety awareness at scale. In addition, a teaser campaign on Zero Accident Day will be launched at the earliest in Keonjhar to highlight the importance of the initiative and sensitize citizens about road safety as a collective responsibility.

Speaking on the occasion, Principal Secretary Usha Padhee said that the positive changes witnessed in the capital city of Bhubaneswar following the observance of Zero Accident Day demonstrate the effectiveness of this campaign. She added that with Keonjhar witnessing high volumes of heavy motor vehicle movement, the focus must now be on driving behavioural change through sustained awareness. Road safety, she emphasized, is a shared responsibility, and the success of the campaign depends on collective participation and commitment.
Transport Commissioner Amitabh Thakur observed that Keonjhar reports a disproportionately high number of accidents and emphasized that with targeted interventions and close coordination, the government is determined to make a measurable impact. 

Adding a technical perspective, Prof.Venkatesh Balasubramanian of RBG Labs, IIT Madras, highlighted that the integrated ZAD-DDHI approach combines technology, training, and empathy to address road safety comprehensively, and expressed confidence that Keonjhar can set an example for other regions.
The meeting concluded with a joint pledge by all stakeholders to ensure the success of the campaign. 

The Government of Odisha expects these collective, data-driven efforts to significantly reduce road accidents and fatalities, reinforcing its mission to make the state’s roads safer for every citizen under the Come Home Safe movement.