Road accident victims to get cashless treatment upto Rs 2.5 lakh

New Delhi: The government on Wednesday said it is ready with a blueprint to implement a cashless treatment scheme for road accident victims. The scheme will have an insurance coverage cap of Rs 2.5 lakh per case, as per communication to transport secretaries and commissioners of the states.

The scheme assumes significance as India accounts for about 5 lakh road accidents per annum, one of the highest globally, in which about 1.5 lakh people are killed and about 3 lakh are crippled. "Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has prepared a blueprint for implementing the scheme of cashless treatment of motor accident victims, as contemplated under the MV Act, 2019. This includes treatment of victims during the crucial golden hour," the ministry said in a statement. "Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has prepared a blueprint for implementing the scheme of cashless treatment of motor accident victims, as contemplated under the MV Act, 2019. This includes treatment of victims during the crucial golden hour," the ministry said in a statement.

In this regard, the transport ministry has written to principal secretaries and secretaries in charge of transport in all states and union territories soliciting their views on concept note of the scheme by the 10th of this month. The scheme also includes creation of a Motor Vehicle Accident Fund. "The National Health Authority being the nodal agency for PM-JAY (Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri – Jan Arogya Yojana) and having footfall across he country with over 21,000 hospitals on board has been entrusted to implement the scheme," the statement said. "The National Health Authority being the nodal agency for PM-JAY (Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri – Jan Arogya Yojana) and having footfall across he country with over 21,000 hospitals on board has been entrusted to implement the scheme," the statement said.

The ministry further said that the scheme envisages "to provide compulsory insurance cover to all road users in the country". The fund would be utilised for treatment of road accident victims and for payment of compensation to the injured or to the family of person losing life in hit and run cases, the statement said.

The proposed modalities of the scheme have been designed in a way that they allow access to quality care at the right time for all individuals, irrespective of their capability to pay, it added. NHA's robust IT platforms which are used for implementing PM-JAY may be leveraged to provide cashless treatment for road accident victims for treatment including the golden hour (first hour of the accident), the communication to the states said. NHA's robust IT platforms which are used for implementing PM-JAY may be leveraged to provide cashless treatment for road accident victims for treatment including the golden hour (first hour of the accident), the communication to the states said.