US: Telugu group launches campaign for NRI safety

The Telugu Association of North America has launched a massive public safety awareness campaign among the community members living in United States, especially among the youths and students, in view of a series of murders and road accidents during the last one year.

In the last year and a half as many as 30 deaths of Telugu people have been reported from various parts of the country, says the statistics compiled by TANA.

This includes 14 deaths in eight separate automobile accidents (two in the last 10 days), five murders (three of them apparently by a family member), two suicides and two train accidents.

In addition a fire accident destroyed the possessions of 17 students. "Today, TANA is launching a safety awareness campaign to prevent future incidents. A TANA team is planning to visit various cities and universities in USA and Canada to conduct safety seminars for the NRI's especially for the students and the youth," the organisation said in a press statement issued on Monday.

Volunteers of TANA Emergency Assistance and Management Team, that was formed in October 2008 and now has 200 members, have prepared brochures in Telugu and English with guidelines for safety.

"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure", said Jayaram Komati, TANA president.

"TANA will prominently promote the safety related information in our web site and through the media. We plan to distribute thousands of these brochures both in print and electronic mediums and make them widely available in US and India," he said.

These brochures are available at the consulates travel agencies, Telugu associations and Indian Student Associations at all universities. TANA also plans to conduct safety awareness seminars at all universities and collaborate with the Indian government in promoting safety, the statement said.

Mohan Nannapaneni, secretary and Prasad Thotakura, executive vice-president, mentioned that TANA is also working with various insurance companies to make health, accident and life insurance available at low rates to Telugus, particularly students.