The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways announced on Monday that the government has launched a reward programme for ‘Good Samaritans.’
A person will be paid under this system if he or she steps forward to save the lives of road accident victims by transporting them to a hospital.
The ministry issued Good Samaritan Rules on September 29, 2020, by Section 134A of the Motor Vehicle Amendment Act, 2019.
“Now, it has been felt that there is a need to motivate the general public through cash awards and certificates to help the road accident victims in an emergency and to boost their morale, and also to inspire and motivate others to save lives of the road accident victims,” the ministry said.
‘Golden hour’
The ministry would reward the person with Rs. 5000 if he or she can locate the casualty within the ‘golden hour’ after the accident.
The ‘golden hour’ has been defined by the ministry as “the first one hour period, following a traumatic injury during which there is a high possibility of preventing death by providing prompt medical care.”
The goal of this scheme, according to the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, is to “motivate people to help road accident victims in emergencies.”
Ministry’s guidelines
Individual Good Samaritan awards are limited to five per year, according to the ministry’s criteria.
The ministry also announced that there will be ten national-level prizes for the most deserving Good Samaritans, who will be chosen from all those who have been honored over a year and given a prize of Rs 100,000 each.
If more than one Good Samaritan saves the lives of many victims, the award will be Rs 5,000 per person saved, up to a maximum of Rs 5,000 per Good Samaritan, according to the criteria.
The government stated that it will award a grant of Rs. 5 lakh to the transport departments of states and union territories as an initial incentive for the Good Samaritan.
According to the instructions, if a Good Samaritan reports an accident to the police, the officers will provide an acknowledgment to the person after checking details with a doctor on an official letter pad.
The involved police station would then send a copy of the acknowledgement to the district assessment committee, which would be chaired by the district magistrate.
A copy will also be given to the Good Samaritan. If a good Samaritan takes the initiative to bring a road accident victim directly to the hospital, the hospital will give all pertinent information to the appropriate police station.
It continues that the police shall grant an acknowledgment to such Good Samaritan.
The Rajasthan government promised a similar prize for Good Samaritans who save lives by transporting traffic accident victims to hospitals earlier this month.
The Mukhyamantri Chiranjeevi Jeevan Rakshak Yojna, it stated, will award a cash prize of 5,000 rupees. A certificate will also be handed to the individual, according to the statement.
Nitin Gadkari, the Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways, has stated that 366,138 road accidents happened in India in 2020, resulting in 131,714 deaths.
Recent road accident of Guwahati
Rajkanya Baruah, a model and 2016 Miss India finalist who injured eight roadside workers last week in Guwahati while driving her car allegedly at high speed and inebriated, was arrested again on Wednesday, according to police.
The 29-year-old model was arrested again from a hospital, according to the police, after the six-member board of the Gauhati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), led by Purujit Choudhury, presented a report to the police stating that she has no health difficulties and is in perfect health.
