Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari said that good Samaritans who help a person injured in a road accident will get a reward of Rs 25,000, which is five times more than the current reward of Rs 5,000.
Speaking during an event on road safety in Nagpur with actor Anupam Kher, Gadkari said that the current reward was not sufficient for the person who rushes road accident victims to hospitals in the crucial first hour of the accident.
The minister further said that the government would now cover hospital expenses of up to Rs 1.5 lakh for the first seven days for the people injured in accidents. “This scheme is not only limited to those injured on national highways but also applies to people injured on state highways,” he said.
The scheme to reward good Samaritans was launched in October 2021. According to the scheme, people who save the life of a fatal accident victim by providing immediate assistance and rushing them to a hospital within the Golden Hour (the first hour after the accident) for medical treatment will be rewarded.
The government defines a good Samaritan as a person “who, in good faith, without expectation of payment or reward and without any duty of care or special relationship, voluntarily comes forward to administer immediate assistance or emergency care to a person injured in an accident, or crash, or emergency medical condition, or emergency situation”.