central road transport Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari on Tuesday said the government will bring out a revised scheme by March to provide ‘cashless’ treatment for road accident victims across the country. Under this, ‘cashless’ treatment facility will be available up to a maximum of Rs 1.5 lakh per person per accident. Gadkari said the scheme will be applicable to all road accidents caused by motor vehicles on any category of road. National Health Authority (NHA) will be the implementing agency for the program in coordination with police, hospitals and state health agency etc. The program will be implemented through an IT platform combining the functionality of the e-Detailed Accident Report (EDAR) application of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways and the Transaction Management System of NHA.
This facility will be available for 7 days
Gadkari said, as per the broad outline of the pilot programme, victims are entitled to ‘cashless’ treatment up to a maximum of Rs 1.5 lakh per person for a maximum period of seven days from the date of the accident. The government will come up with a revised plan by March this year. It is noteworthy that the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways had launched a pilot program on March 14, 2024 to provide ‘cashless’ treatment to road accident victims. The objective of the pilot program launched in Chandigarh was to create an environment to provide timely medical care to victims of road accidents. The pilot project was later expanded to six states. The minister also said the government is studying labor laws to formulate a policy to fix working hours for commercial drivers on the lines of pilots, as fatigue among drivers is leading to fatal road accidents.
Shortage of 22 lakh drivers in the country
He also said that there is a shortage of 22 lakh drivers in the country. Ministry of Road Transport & Highways organized a two-day workshop on January 6 and 7, 2025 to holistically discuss the issues, solutions and next steps to be taken to help transform the road transport sector in the country. . Expediting the implementation of vehicle scrappage policy, adoption of PUCC (Pollution Control Certificate) 2.0 across India, timeline for implementation of BS-VII norms as well as expected reduction in pollution were discussed during the workshop. . Gadkari also launched a scheme for setting up Driver Training Institutes (DTIs) across the country. Under this, provision has been made for incentives to set up driver training institutes and additional incentives for integrated infrastructure of ATS (Automated Training Station) and DTI.
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