The Aam Aadmi Party government in New Delhi with Arvind Kejriwal as helm has cleared a policy where the government will provide free medical treatment to accident victims. In addition to road accident victims, fire and acid attack victims will also be provided free treatment at the closest private hospital. What’s even more special, is the free treatment will be provided to everyone, irrespective of whether they’re from Delhi or not. The announcement was made by Delhi Health Minister Satyendra Jain at a press conference chaired by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. The new policy will now be sent to Lt Governor Anil Baijal for final approval.
“If any citizen is in an accident on the streets of Delhi, the whole cost of treatment will be borne by the Delhi government. The first priority is to save the life of the person” said Satyendra Satyendra Jain. “The move is aimed at saving lives of such people during the golden hour after accidents on Delhi’s roads, be it road accident, fire and acid attacks,” Jain added.
According to some stats put forward during the announcement, about 8,000 accidents occur on Delhi roads every year which affect 15,000-20,000 people, where about 1,600 people die every year. The new announcemene follows the AAP government initiative where it will reward those who help road accident victims reach hospitals with Rs 2000. The ‘Good Samaritan’ policy, as it is called also gives appreciation certificates to those who come forward to help those in distress.
The proposal has been in the pipeline for long, ever since a road accident victim died due to excessive blood loss in August 2016 as no one helped him.
The new scheme, by all means is a great step to save lives which are lost as nobody takes such victims to the nearest private hospital denying them a chance to survive. Commenting on the new scheme, Kejriwal said, “Every life counts. Every life is important for us. If an accident victim receives best medical care immediately, many lives couldd be saved.”