News Excerpt:

Recently, the government announced a pilot project to provide cashless treatment of up to ₹1.5 lakh to all victims of road accidents.

About the Pilot Project:

• The pilot programme was announced by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.
• The pilot will be undertaken in Chandigarh to establish an “ecosystem for providing timely medical care to the victims of road accidents, including during the golden hour.” 
• The golden hour is the one hour following a traumatic injury during which there is the highest likelihood of preventing death by providing prompt medical care.
• Victims will be entitled to cashless treatment of up to ₹1.5 lakhs per person for a maximum period of seven days from the date of the accident. 
• The pilot scheme will be applicable to all victims of road accidents, which involve a motor vehicle that occurred on any category of road. 
• The packages for trauma and polytrauma offered under Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana will also be co-opted under the scheme.
• Claims raised by hospitals for providing treatment will be reimbursed from the Motor Vehicle Accident Fund.
• The National Health Authority will be the implementing agency for the pilot programme and will co-ordinate with police, hospitals and State Health Agency.
• The implementation will rely on an IT platform which will use data from the Road Ministry’s Integrated Road Accident Database (iRAD) where police personnel enter data on road accidents along with photos and videos.

About iRAD:

• The Integrated Road Accident Database (iRAD) Project is an initiative of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH), Government of India and is funded by the World Bank, with an objective of improving road safety in the country. 
• To achieve this, the establishment of an accurate and uniform road accident data collection mechanism from all over India is required. 
• For this purpose, iRAD mobile & web application is developed. 
• This is followed by training & handholding support to stakeholder departmental users through state/district roll-out managers & master trainers.
• This will facilitate road accident data collection by 4 stakeholder departments

1. 1. Police
   2. Transport
   3. Highways
   4. Health Departments

• Through a collection of road accident data from all over the country, a road accident database will be developed. 
• The collected data will be analysed using different data analytics techniques for identification of accident-prone areas and causes of the accidents. 
• The analysis output will be represented in appropriate dashboards, accessible to higher authorities of stakeholder departments and MoRTH. 
• An apt strategy will be formed for the reduction of the number of road accidents in India and to enhance road safety. 
• NICSI & IIT Madras have been jointly entrusted to carry out the design, Development, Training, and implementation of the iRAD project, along with research & analysis activities.

Conclusion:

The pilot project for road crash victims, announced by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, is a crucial step towards ensuring timely and cashless medical care for victims. By leveraging the iRAD platform and involving various stakeholders, this initiative aims to significantly improve the treatment and support provided to road accident victims.