Road accident victims to get cashless treatment, govt launches pilot programme
- The initiative under the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) aims to reduce fatalities in road accident cases.
In an attempt to reduce number of deaths in road accidents in India, the Centre has launched a pilot programme that will offer cashless treatment to the victims. The pilot programme, which has been developed by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH), will try to offer quicker help to road accident victims to save their lives. India currently tops among nations with highest number of deaths in road accidents. India saw around 1.68 lakh people die in road accidents in 2022.
The pilot programme for road accident victims will offer cashless treatment up to ₹1.5 lakh for each person. An official statement released on Thursday said that the cashless treatment will be offered up to seven days from the date of the accident. Victims of road accidents in India often die due to non-availability of first responder or hospitalisation during the initial phase after the accident which is also known as the golden hour.
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The official statement has said that victims involved in all kind of road accidents will be covered under this pilot cashless treatment programme. The eligibility to avail the service includes injury caused by any kind of vehicle on any type of road. The hospitals treating road accident victims under this programme can raise reimbursement claims from the Motor Vehicle Accident Fund.
The pilot programme will be executed by the National Health Authority (NHA). It will coordinate with police and hospitals to get the programme running on ground. The agency will use digital platform which will have a detailed report on the accident to apply for the scheme. As of now, the pilot programme has been launched in Chandigarh. It will. be considered for the rest of the country based on how the pilot programme goes.
Also Read : Road accident deaths down by 5% globally, numbers in India continue to rise, says WHO
India ranks among the top countries when it comes to number of road accidents and fatalities across the world. In 2022, India witnessed more than 4.61 lakh road accidents in which over 1.68 lakh people lost their lives and another 4.43 lakh people injured. The Centre has recently said that it aims to reduce the number of road accidents to half by 2030. Union Minister Nitin Gadkari had earlier aimed to achieve this target by this year.
