The road ministry said it has launched a scheme for ‘Good Samaritans’ under which a cash award of Rs 5,000 will be given to those who save the life of a road accident victim by rushing him/her to hospital within the ‘golden hour’ of the mishap.
The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has come up with new scheme that promotes “good-samaritan” behaviour. The ministry has announced guidelines for the “Scheme for grant of Award to the Good Samaritan who has saved life of a victim of a fatal accident involving a motor vehicle by administering immediate assistance and rushing to Hospital/Trauma Care Centre within the Golden Hour of the accident to provide medical treatment”.
How the new scheme works
To motivate the general public to help the road accident victims in an emergency situation, MoRTH said ” the amount of award for each Good Samaritan would be Rs. 5,000 per incident.” “Every cash award would be accompanied with a certification of appreciation,” it added.
Besides award in each case, the ministry said there will be 10 national level awards for the most worthy Good Samaritans (to be selected from all those who have been awarded during the whole year) and they would be given an award of Rs 1,00,000 each.
According to the guidelines, if more than one Good Samaritan saves the life of more than one victim, the amount of award will be Rs 5,000 per victim saved, subject to maximum Rs 5,000 per Good Samaritan. ‘Golden hour’ refers to the 1-hour time period following a traumatic injury during which there is the highest likelihood of preventing death by providing prompt medical care.
MoRTH said it will provide Rs 5 lakh as initial grant to the transport department of states and UTs for making payment to the Good Samaritan. As per provisions under Section 134A of the Motor Vehicle Amendment Act 2019, rules for Good Samaritans had been notified by the ministry on September 29, 2020.
The Appraisal Committee at the District Level comprising District Magistrate, SSP, Chief Medical and Health Officer, RTO (Transport Department) of the concerned District would sanction and send the cases to the concerned State/UT Transport Depart for making the payment to the Good Samaritans.
A State Level Monitoring Committee under Chairmanship of Principal Secretary (Home) having Commissioner (Health) and ADGP (Traffic & Road Safety) as Members and Transport Commissioner as Member Secretary shall do Quarterly Meetings to monitor the proper implementation of the scheme.
Every year, the State Level Monitoring Committee of each State/UT will nominate three most worthy proposals for national-level awards on yearly basis to the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways for further consideration.
MoRTH would have an Appraisal Committee for this purpose and they shall review the proposals received from the States / UTs and select the best ten Good Samaritans of the year. They will be awarded with Rs. 1,00,000/- each along with a Certificate and trophy during National Road Safety Month (NRSM) in Delhi.
