Prime Minister Narendra Modi will soon launch a cashless medical treatment scheme for victims of road crash accidents on highways, said Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari on Wednesday.

Road crash victims to get cashless treatment of ₹1.5 lakh

Road crash victims will be entitled to cashless treatment of up to ₹1.5 lakh for a minimum of seven days, as per the scheme.

“A pilot project has been successfully concluded with several states on the cashless scheme, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi will soon launch the scheme,” Gadkari said after a meeting with state transport ministers.

Good Samaritans helping road crash victims to get ₹25,000

Sharing the details of the scheme, Gadkari said that in case of accidents anywhere in the country, on any road and not only national highways, the Good Samaritan helping the victim reach a hospital will be awarded ₹25,000. “Such Good Samaritans will be termed as ‘Rahveers’ under the scheme,” said Gadkari.

30% lives can be saved with timely hospitalisation: AIIMS

“A study by AIIMS says that the lives of at least 30% of victims can be saved if they get medical treatment in time. The AIIMS study states that about 1.8 lakh road accident victims lose their lives in five lakh accidents that occur on an average, and timely intervention can save 50,000–60,000 precious lives,” Gadkari said.

Gadkari said the scheme will ensure that every road accident victim receives medical treatment in time. “With this, we will be able to save more lives,” he added.

“The pilot project of the scheme has recently been concluded. The pilot project was conducted in Assam, Chandigarh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Haryana, Puducherry and Uttar Pradesh. Once the Prime Minister inaugurates the scheme, we will roll it out nationally,” Gadkari said.

During the recently concluded Winter Session of Parliament, Gadkari said in a reply in the Lok Sabha that the Stockholm Declaration on Road Safety sets a new global target to reduce road traffic deaths and injuries by 50% by 2030.

The declaration was adopted at the 3rd Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety in February 2020.

“As per the information received from states and UTs, the total number of road accident fatalities reported in the country across all categories of roads during the calendar year 2024 was 1,77,177, which includes data in respect of West Bengal taken from the eDAR portal,” Gadkari informed the House.

“As per the World Road Statistics 2024, the fatality rate per lakh population is 4.3 in China and 12.76 in the United States of America, as compared to India, where it is 11.89,” Gadkari had mentioned.