India, Oct. 10 -- For more than a decade, 55-year-old Jagdish Baweja has stood at the edge of Gurugram's snarled crossroads, guiding traffic and saving lives -- not as a policeman, but as a volunteer. He is one of the city's longest-serving "road safety officers," a role he took in 2011after losing a close family member in a road accident 15 years ago. That tragedy, he says, altered the course of his life forever.

Every morning, for two to three hours, Baweja dons a fluorescent jacket and takes his post at major intersections, helping regulate traffic alongside police officers. When not on the road, he holds awareness drives at schools, colleges, corporate offices, and trucking hubs -- educating people about road safety, emergency respon...