Victims of road accidents to benefit from free treatment without cash

Following the directions issued by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Haryana Police has launched a new initiative under which accident victims will get free treatment in the first golden hour. Under this scheme, treatment up to Rs 1.5 lakh per person per road accident is provided free of cost for a maximum period of seven days from the date of the accident. Additional Director General of Police Hardeep Doon has written a letter to all concerned officers asking them to ensure compliance.

DGP Shatrujeet Kapur said that making the roads of the state safe for the common man is one of our priorities. “Therefore, there is a need to prepare a better and more effective action plan to reduce and work on road accidents. In the same series, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has started offering free treatment services to victims of road accidents.”

He stated that the pilot project will be jointly implemented by the National Health Authority in coordination with the local police and the hospitals contracted by the State Health Directorate. During this time, the accident victim will be given free treatment up to a limit of Rs 1.5 lakh for a maximum of seven days under Section 162 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988.

Under this scheme, a road accident victim is taken to hospital. After this, the hospital management uploads the data of the injured person in their software and forwards it to the concerned police station, after which they confirm within six hours whether the injured person is injured in a road accident or not. After confirmation, the injured person receives cashless treatment.

Kapur said to reduce road accidents, Haryana Police is working by focusing on several important points, as a result of which there has been a decrease of 616 road accidents in 2024 as compared to 2023. Along with this, there has also been a decrease of 251 deaths. in road accidents in 2024 compared to 2023 and 403 fewer people were injured. He said that from January 2024 to the end of November 2024, Haryana Police conducted 2,166 road safety awareness campaigns through which 2,91,307 children and others ensured participation. Apart from this, six special campaigns were conducted in 2024, of which five were conducted against lane driving and one special campaign against those who applied black foil on vehicles. During the special campaign, 27,321 vehicles were challenged, including 2,600 for black films.

Moreover, black spots were identified in the state where road accidents are relatively high. “These black spots are fixed by coordinating with road engineering departments. In different districts of the state, road safety committees have been established, through which periodic meetings are held on the road safety agenda”.

Kapur said that in 2024, the road safety committee inspected 19,261 school buses, of which 4,657 were challenged for irregularities. He added that there are currently 66 toll booths in the state where moving scales were to be installed. These machines have been installed at 54 toll booths, 29 of which are used to challenge overloaded vehicles; soon, it will be started on other charging parts.