20 children killed in road accidents every day: BJP MP

20 children are killed in road accidents every day, a BJP member said in Lok Sabha today, making a strong pitch for a comprehensive law to make roads a safer place and to eliminate the “silent killer”.

Raising the issue during zero hour, Kirron Kher said the National Crime Records Bureau in its 2013 statistics showed that 7300 children have died in road accidents.

He said that the deaths were “alarming”, given the fact that they were 300 per cent more than all crimes against children put together.

Calling for a comprehensive law on the issue, she said the best safety standards should be put in place for protecting the children including making helmets and seat belts compulsory so as to do away with this “silent killer”.

Raising another issue, Srirang Barne (Shiv Sena) drew the government’s attention to the lack of adequate sanitation facilities in the famous pilgrim town of Pandharpur in Maharashtra where 10 to 20 lakh devotees of Lord Vitthal converge twice in a year.

He said that many of the devotees come from the southern states. He said that the government should provide a liberal financial package for development of Pandharpur.

Rabindra Kumar Jena (BJD) wanted minimum wages as remuneration for over nine lakh ASHA workers, apart from allowances and social security measures like provident fund, pension and medical facilities. His party Kulamani Samal wanted a super-speciality hospital to be set up in Paradip.