Delhi to reward people helping road accident victims

Hyderabad, Nov 15 : The Delhi government will launch within a month a scheme providing Rs 2,000 as reward to those who help road accident victims reach hospitals, Delhi's Health Minister Satyendar Jain said on Wednesday.

Addressing the second edition of the MeltingPot 2020 Innovation Summit 2017 here, he said the scheme would help reduce time for an accident victim to reach a hospital.

The Delhi government had unveiled the Good Samaritan policy in January to reward the people, helping road accident victims. The good Samaritans will also be given appreciation certificate.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government had mooted the proposal in August last year after a road accident victim in west Delhi's Subhash Nagar bled to death because no one helped him.

Jain claimed that victims of road accidents in Delhi were taken to hospitals faster than those in New York. 

"The scheme will further reduce the time," he said, adding the government will also bear the treatment costs of the injured.

The minister said the government had set a target of providing free healthcare to all the citizens. He noted that currently the government healthcare system caters to only 20 percent of the city's two crore population.

Jain said the government was building new hospitals and expanding the capacity of existing facilities.