On Monday, the road ministry announced a scheme for ‘Good Samaritans’ under which Rs 5,000 will be given to those who save the lives of road accident victims by rushing the victim to the hospital within the ‘golden hour’ after the accident. In a letter to principals and transportation secretaries of all states and union territories, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) announced that the scheme would operate from October 15, 2021 to March 31, 2026.
In order to encourage the general public to help road accident victims in an emergency situation, MoRTH announced that a Rs 5,000 award would be given to each good Samaritan. Every cash award would come with a certificate of appreciation, it said. Besides recognizing each award recipient, the ministry announced that there would be 10 national level awards for the most worthy Good Samaritans (of those who were recognized this year) and they would receive an award of Rs 10,00000.
In accordance with the guidelines, if more than one Good Samaritan saves the life of more than one victim, the award will be Rs 5,000 per life saved, subject to a maximum of Rs 5,000 per Good Samaritan.
The ‘golden hour’ refers to the 1-hour period following a traumatic injury during which prompt medical treatment is most likely to prevent death.
The MoRTH will provide Rs 5 lakh as an initial grant to the transport departments of states and UTs to pay the Good Samaritan. The ministry notified rules for Good Samaritans under Section 134A of the Motor Vehicle Amendment Act 2019 on September 29, 2020. ‘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 emergency situation and to boost their moral, and also to inspire and motivate others to save lives of the road accident victims,’ the ministry said.
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If the Good Samaritan informs the police directly about the incident and the police verify the details from the doctor, an acknowledgement should be provided on a letter pad to the Good Samaritan. A copy of the acknowledgement will be sent by the police station to the district appraisal committee, under the direction of the district magistrate, with a copy going to the Good Samaritan. In the case of a Good Samaritan who immediately takes an injured person to the hospital, the hospital will inform the local police station about their actions. It is the police’s duty to acknowledge Good Samaritans with their recognition.
A good Samaritan cannot receive an award more than five times in a year per the guidelines. Following a question in the Lok Sabha recently, Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari said there were 3,66,138 road accidents in India during the calendar year 2020, causing 1,31,714 deaths.
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