Centre plans to introduce cashless treatment of accident victims across India: Official

New Delhi: The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) plans to roll out the facility of cashless medical treatment of road accident victims across the country in three to four months, a top government official said on Monday.

Road Transport and Highways Secretary Anurag Jain while inaugurating an event organized by the Institute of Road Traffic Education (IRTE) noted India has the highest number of road accident deaths in the world.

"Free and cashless medical treatment to accident-injured victims is part of the amended Motor Vehicle Act 2019 (MVA2019). Some states have implemented it but now the Ministry of Roads in league with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare will be fully implementing it across the nation," Jain said.

He added the facility will be rolled out in three to four months.

According to him, it is envisioned to provide access to cashless trauma care treatment for road accident victims at the nearest appropriate hospital in the country, in accordance with the Supreme Court ruling, and by drawing its power from the Motor Vehicle(Amendment) Act 2019 (MV Amendment Act).

"Such cashless treatment shall be extended to road accident victims including during golden hour, as defined by the MV Amendment Act," he added. Golden hour refers to the critical first hour after a road accident with casualties when prompt medical attention can make all the difference.

The road secretary said for education and awareness about road safety, the Union Ministry of Education has agreed to include road safety as part of the curriculum for schools and colleges to be implemented soon.

"For vehicular engineering, several steps have been taken including seat belt reminder and introduction of Bharat NCAP," he said.

IRTE President Rohit Baluja said the global road safety experts attending the event will be working towards deliberating and finalizing suggestive codes of safe practice for driver certification, diagnosis of road crashes through multi-disciplinary crash investigation and safety of vulnerable road users.