To promote the safety of animals on roads, the Ministry of Transport has made it mandatory for all public transport vehicles to carry the slogan ‘Be kind to Animals’ and its Hindi version, or its equivalent in the local language. The deadline to comply with the directives is April 1, 2025.
The transport minister has sent a notice on the requirement to the principal transport secretaries of all states, transport commissioners, association of state road transport undertakings, and animal welfare boards of all states.
The notice said that the Constitution of India vide Article 51 A (g) prescribes the fundamental duty of every citizen of India to protect and improve the natural environment including forests, lakes, rivers, and wildlife, and to have compassion for living creatures. Further, two legislations, the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1960 and the Wildlife Protection Act 1972, have been established to ensure animal welfare.
Roadkill is one of the most significant human-caused factors of direct mortality to vertebrate animals, said a 2020 study by Jai Narain Vyas University, Jodhpur, which noted that roads, railways, and urbanisation, was causing fragmentation of natural habitats, pushing migrating animals to roads and railway lines. Yet, this massive cost on animal life is not adequately documented, the study added.
Animal rights activists welcomed the new rule. “The slogans will create awareness about the issue of animals dying on the roads. However, the campaign should include programmes like sensitisation of drivers about the presence of stray animals on the road, and to drive carefully at animal crossings. We are ready to contribute to this effort by holding workshops with drivers on animal safety,” said Mulchand Chheda who runs an animal welfare centre called Ahimsa Dham.
Prashant Zalte of Garudadhwaj Foundation, an animal rights group, said, “Instead of stickers, we can have conversations with drivers. We could organise camps to sensitise them about the issue,” said Zalte.
Transporters welcomed the directives. Bal Malkiat Singh, former president of the All India Motor Transport Congress, said, “The government’s intent is good. As we live in a federal system, the state governments will have to implement it. In addition, it will be good to have a slogan on road safety,” said Singh.
Singh added that developed countries have animal underpasses or cattle barricades on busy roads to prevent accidents. “We are a developing country and should build this kind of infrastructure. Wild or stray animals on the road are also a hazard for vehicles. Local authorities should do something about the number of stray dogs on roads. Drivers do not want to cause animal deaths,” said Singh.
Additional instructions said that the slogan should have a minimum height of each character to be a size of 150 mm. The slogan should be placed on the exterior of the public transport vehicles for wider publicity. According to the list of instructions, the colour of the font may be selected to enhance the readability depending on the colour of the public transport vehicle used in the respective state. The slogan can be painted or pasted as a sticker.
