It was a small road accident involving his two-wheeler many years ago that prompted the current Home Minister, Araga Jnanendra, to get a driving licence.
“It was a hot afternoon and my palms were sweaty. The (two-wheeler’s) handle slipped off my hand. Just then, a woman let go of her child’s hand, and the child fell down in front of my bike,” he recalled.
Jnanendra said he took the girl to a hospital and she recovered. “That day, I decided to get a driving licence,” he added. Until then, he had ridden the two-wheeler without a licence for years, said the Thirthahalli MLA and a first-time minister. He urged vehicles users to attend to accident victims instead of fleeing the scene.
He narrated the incident while addressing schoolchildren at an interaction organised by the Bengaluru traffic police on Thursday.
Children from various schools in the city asked him about traffic fines, corruption and infrastructure problems among other things.
Answering their questions, he took an educative and humorous approach, and kept the mood light. He was stunned when many children said they knew how to ride two-wheelers and drive cars.
The minister said traffic in Bengaluru was rising as 2,300 vehicles were registered per day on average.
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