The scheme, which will be developed under the auspices of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH), will enable cashless treatment of up to ₹1.5 lakh per accident per person. It covers hospitalization up to seven days from the date of the accident in all hospitals included in the government's Ayushman Bharat scheme.
Support for victims
The scheme is being set up with the aim of supporting victims of road accidents in the country, which is among the highest in the world.
According to Anurag Jain, secretary of MoRTH, the outcome of a pilot conducted in Chandigarh since March would be studied and the drafts of the new plan would be finalized for government approval before it is launched nationwide soon.
Cashless treatment
“The new scheme would provide cashless treatment for all road accidents at designated hospitals and will provide cover even to victims of uninsured vehicles so that immediate medical attention is not denied during the golden hour that helps save lives,” Jain said.
The National Health Authority (NHA) is the implementing agency for the pilot programme, in coordination with police, hospitals and State Health Agencies (SHA). Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY) packages for trauma cases have been co-opted, while claims from hospitals for providing treatment to the accident victims will be reimbursed from the Motor Vehicle Accident Fund.
According to another MoRTH official who asked not to be quoted as he is not authorized to speak to the media, the national launch of the plan could follow soon after the formation of the new government, with funds being allocated in the budget assigned. in addition to the resources already available in the Motor Vehicle Accident Fund.
Extensive schedule
The proposed scheme will be an extension of a scheme drawn up in January 2022 which established a Motor Vehicle Accident Fund Trust with a corpus of approximately ₹76 crore transferred from the Solatium Fund Scheme of 1989. The scheme administered by the General Insurance (GI) Council currently only compensates victims of hit-and-run cases with a death benefit of ₹2 lakh and ₹50,000 for serious injuries.
“The scheme in its final form would ensure that all road accident victims receive proper treatment in hospitals, including victims of accidents involving uninsured vehicles and collision cases. While contributions from insurance companies would cover the treatment of victims of insured vehicles, accidents involving even uninsured vehicles would be handled completely cashless by the fund during the golden hour, and recovery and fine of such uninsured vehicle could be done later be imposed,” said Jain.
To complete its cashless treatment plan, MoRTH has spoken to general insurance companies demanding a contribution of 2.97% of third party premium for insuring vehicles to the Fund. They will also use the money credited by the Solatium Fund. For uninsured vehicles, the Fund receives its money from the collection of MoRTH user fees and budget support from the government.
Pilot project
“The input from the pilot project would be important in designing the new program, which would be of great help to road traffic victims,” the official quoted earlier said.
According to MoRTH, in the calendar year 2022, 461,312 road accidents were reported by police forces, killing 168,491 people – the highest number in the world – and injuring 443,366 people.
The data also shows that the average number of collisions in India resulting in serious injury or death in a year is approximately 25,000.
Of the total number of accidents in the country in 2022, 151,997 (32.9%) occurred on National Highways (NH), including expressways, 106,682 (23.1%) on National Highways (SH) and the remaining 202,633 (43.9% ) on other roads.
Reducing the number of fatalities
Of the total 168,491 fatalities reported in 2022, 61,038 (36.2%) were on national highways, 41,012 (24.3%) on national highways and 66,441 (39.4%) on other roads.
Of the total, 155,781 fatal accidents were reported in 2022, of which 55,571 (35.7%) were on national highways, 37,861 (24.3%) on national highways and 62,349 (40%) on other roads.
MoRTH is also taking several measures to make India's highways safer and reduce road fatalities.
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Published: May 5, 2024 4:27 PM IST
