Govt rolls out cashless treatment scheme for all road crash victims | India News
NEW DELHI: Just four days before the Supreme Court deadline, govt notified the free cashless treatment to all road crash victims across the country. The scheme specifies that around 30,000 ‘designated hospitals’ onboarded by the state and UT govts with the National Health Authority will start immediate treatment of injured brought there.As per the scheme, govt will provide up to Rs 1.5 lakh assistance for cashless treatment for a maximum of seven days. The scheme, which came into force from Monday said, “Any person being a victim of a road accident arising out of the use of motor vehicles occurring on any road, shall be entitled to cashless treatment.”The SC had pulled up road transport ministry for not notifying the scheme even five years after it was made part of the amended Motor Vehicle Act in 2019 and set a deadline for it to be notified by Fri. Earlier, the govt was implementing pilot projects across four states and two UTs. For national roll out of the scheme, govt has allocated Rs 272 crore for 2025-26. As per Law Commission reports, more than 50% of road fatalities could have been prevented with timely medical care.The scheme mentions that treatment at a hospital other than a ‘designated hospital’ will be for stabilisation purposes only. Since all the 30,000 designated hospitals empanelled by NHA may not have the trauma care facility, the notification said in case the designated hospital deems that the treatment facilities or the expertise necessary for the proper treatment are not available with it, such hospital may immediately refer the victim to another designated hospital and indicate the transfer on the portal and also make arrangements for the transportation of the victim.As per notification, a 17-member steering committee headed by road transport secretary will monitor the implementation of the scheme.
