Cashless Treatment Scheme: The Union Government launched a new "Cashless Treatment" scheme aimed at providing financial support to road accident victims. Under this initiative, the government will cover medical expenses of up to Rs 1.5 lakh for the first seven days of treatment for road accident victims. Speaking about the scheme, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari stated that the government would bear the cost of treatment if the police are informed about the accident within 24 hours. He also announced an ex-gratia payment of Rs two lakh for the families of deceased victims in hit-and-run cases.
"The broad contours of the pilot programme are -- victims entitled to cashless treatment up to a maximum of Rs 1.5 lakh per accident per person for a maximum period of 7 days from date of the accident," Gadkari said while addressing a press conference. The government will come up with a modified scheme by March this year.
On March 14, 2024, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) had launched a pilot programme to provide cashless treatment to road accident victims. The pilot programme -- initiated in Chandigarh -- was aimed at establishing an ecosystem for providing timely medical care to the victims of road accidents, including during the golden hour. The pilot project was later expanded to six states.
NHA to implement the scheme
The National Health Authority (NHA) shall be the implementing agency for the programme, in coordination with police, hospitals and State Health Agency etc. The programme will be implemented through an IT platform, combining the functionalities of the e-Detailed Accident Report (eDAR) application of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways and the Transaction Management System of NHA.
'Road safety is govt's top priority'
The Union Minister also underlined that the government's top priority is road safety, citing the alarming statistic that nearly 1.80 lakh people lost their lives in road accidents in 2024. Of these, 30,000 fatalities were due to not wearing helmets, Gadkari added. He also said that the government is reviewing labour laws to draft a policy aimed at regulating working hours for commercial drivers, similar to the guidelines for airline pilots. This move comes as driver fatigue has been identified as a significant cause of fatal road accidents, he added. Highlighting the issue, Gadkari stated that India is currently facing a shortage of 22 lakh commercial drivers, which adds to the challenges in ensuring road safety.
(With inputs from agencies)
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