MoRTH to introduce cashless treatment for all accident victims

The Ministry of Roads, Transport, and Highways (MoRTH) intends to introduce cashless medical treatment to all wounded accident victims across the country over the next three to four months.

Anurag Jain, Secretary of MoRTH launched a three-day "Global Road Safety Initiative" organized by the Institute of Road Traffic Education (IRTE) in collaboration with the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways of the Government of India, as well as the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE).

The Union Ministry of Education has also decided to add road safety as part of the curriculum for schools and colleges, which will be implemented soon. Several initiatives have been done to improve vehicular engineering, including installing ABS brakes, a two-wheeler overspeed warning system, seat belt reminders, and implementing Bharat NCAP.

Anurag Jain said "The 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. 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."

"India has the highest number of road accident deaths in the world, in a bid to reduce accidents by 50 per cent by the year 2030, the road ministry has formulated a multi-pronged strategy based on the 5E's of road safety to address the issue of road safety based on Education, Engineering (both of roads and vehicles), Enforcement and Emergency Care. As part of road engineering, road safety has been made an integral part of road design at the planning stage. The electronic Detailed Accident Report (e-DAR) Project has been initiated to establish a central repository for reporting, management and analysis of road accident data across the Country and rectify the engineering faults within a month or two " Jain said.

Around 130 eminent road safety experts from over 27 countries will participate in the three-day "Global Road Safety Initiative," which will begin in the national capital and will focus on deliberating and finalizing suggested codes to reduce road crash fatalities and injuries in low and middle-income countries and cities. The event's worldwide road safety specialists will be considering and approving proposed Codes of Safe Practice for Driver Certification, Diagnosis of Road Crashes through Multi-Disciplinary Crash Investigation, and Safety of Vulnerable Road Users.