Ashok Leyland's Namakkal Driver Training Centre near Salem in Tamil Nadu was started in 1995 "to ready a driver for life on the road and off the road". From the very beginning, the curriculum had included, besides functional subjects, health education including yoga and AIDS awareness (along with the education on the vehicle and traffic rules cum sessions on physical fitness, personality development and health risks like smoking. The drivers also attend awareness sessions on Sexually Transmitted Diseases [STDs] and AIDS.)

Namakkal is virtually the heartland of trucking in South India. The Training Centre has integrated itself well with the community, the various fleet owners associations and local NGOs, which has enhanced its ability to create mass awareness about AIDS. Identified as an important centre given its strategic location, the Training Centre's contribution is well appreciated by APAC (AIDS Prevention and Control Project) and AIDS Control Society.

Over one lakh drivers‚ who have been trained under various courses‚ have been covered under AIDS awareness sessions so far. Sessions on AIDS‚ which are part of the structured training programme‚ are supplemented by video cassettes‚ leaflets and booklets received from AIDS Control Society. NGOs also use the Centre for dispensing condoms. Specialist NGOs regularly visit the Training Centre‚ to deliver talks and to present street plays and dances with a message.

The Driver Training Centre at Namakkal is recognised as one of the best in the private sector. Following the Namakkal success story‚ Ashok Leyland has set up a Driver Training Institute in Burari‚ near Delhi‚ in partnership with the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi.