Oscar Fernandes launches cashless emergency care initiatives on Gurgaon-Jaipur Stretch of NH-8

Minister of Road Transport and Highways Oscar Fernandes on Monday launched emergency care initiatives on the Gurgaon - Jaipur stretch of NH-8.

Oscar Fernandes launched a pilot project for cashless treatment of accident victims on Gurgaon - Jaipur stretch of NH-8, in the presence of Rajasthan Chief Minster Ashok Gehlot, Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and other dignitaries from his ministry, in order to give a boost to emergency care of the accident victims.

According to a press statement issued by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Oscar Fernandes flagged off six new Advance Life Support ambulances, for urgently transporting accident victims to the nearby hospitals, which has been supplied by the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.

He also flagged off a crash investigation vehicle deployed by National Automotive Testing research and Development Infrastructure Project (NATRIP) for scientific investigation of serious accidents on this stretch by a team headed by Professor Anoop Chawla of IIT-Delhi

He also released the National Ambulance Code developed by Ministry of Road Transport and Highways by utilizing the expertise of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), with the active participation of the automobile industry, the vehicle testing agencies and other stakeholders.

Oscar Fernandes hoped the two steps initiated by his Ministry - development of the National Ambulance Code and cashless treatment of road accident victims would make a major impact on the road safety scenario of the country.

He further expressed deep concern over the high incidence of road accidents and resulltant fatalities.

Reiterating the Government's commitment to make roads safer for the public, he recounted steps being taken by his Ministry to promote road safety like educational campaigns on road safety, supply of cranes and ambulances to States, establishment of model Institutes of Driving Training and Research and fully automated vehicle inspection and certification centers, and several administrative measures like enforcement of provisions relating to installation of braking systems in agricultural trailers, improvement in construction of bus body building by notification of procedure for accreditation of bus body builders, and steps to check overloading of vehicles.

The Minister also appealed to the audience to voluntarily observe the rules of the road like adherence to speed limits, helmet wearing, use of seat belts, not to mix drinking and driving, and keeping cool to avoid road rage.

"Let us resolve to follow these simple rules of road safety strictly from today; let all of us become Road Safety Volunteers from this day" he said.

He said that on the basis of the experience gained from this pilot project and the investigation by the team of IIT Delhi, a more comprehensive scheme may be launched for the entire country in phases.

Vijay Chhibber, Secretary, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways brought out certain unique features of the pilot project like a toll free number 1033 to report accidents, a call center working all round the year to receive information about accidents and deploy the nearest ambulance by tracking through GPS device and even local youth nominated by Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan as Road Safety Volunteers who have been trained in first aid by Ministry of Road Transport and Highways at AIIMS.

Victims of road accidents at Gurgaon - Jaipur stretch, would be entitled to a cashless treatment at 44 empanelled hospitals and 7 government hospitals located on the stretch.

The Chief Ministers of Haryana and Rajasthan welcomed this initiative by Oscar Fernandes and assured full cooperation from their side, for choosing the Gurgaon - Jaipur stretch of NH-8 for the Pilot project in view of the high rate of accidents and fatalities on this stretch.