Modi government announces cashless treatment scheme for road accident victims
What's the story
In a major move, Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari has launched a new scheme to ensure cashless treatment for road accident victims. The scheme guarantees medical expenses for the first seven days after an accident (a maximum of ₹1.5 lakh). The facility comes into effect once the police is informed within 24 hours of the accident.
Compensation
Provisions for hit-and-run fatalities
The new scheme also has provisions for hit-and-run fatalities. In such cases, the immediate family of the deceased will be given a compensation of ₹2 lakh. The announcement was made during a press conference at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi, after Gadkari met transport ministers of various states across India.
Safety focus
Road safety concerns and solutions
During the press conference, Gadkari stressed that road safety was a top priority for his ministry. He shared shocking statistics from 2024, where 1.8 lakh people lost their lives in road accidents. Among the deceased, 30,000 died due to non-compliance with helmet rules and a whopping 66% of victims were aged between 18-34 years. He also noted accidents by unlicensed drivers killed around 3,000 last year.
Policy changes
Gadkari addresses driver shortage
Gadkari also spoke about the shortage of drivers in India, saying that there is a shortage of 22 lakh drivers. He announced plans for new driving training centers to address the issue. He also spoke about the benefits of scrapping old vehicles, how it could boost the automobile sector, and contribute to a circular economy by recycling materials like aluminum, copper, steel, and plastic.
Economic growth
Scrapping policy's economic impact and automobile industry growth
Gadkari further explained the scrapping policy could create more jobs and increase GST revenue by ₹18,000 crore for both union and state governments. Proudly announcing India's automobile industry has now become the third largest in the world, surpassing Japan just four months ago, Gadkari said since 2014 the size of India's automobile industry has tripled from ₹7 lakh crore to ₹22 lakh crore today.