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On Wednesday, the State Cabinet approved the long pending ‘Late Balasaheb Thackeray Accident Insurance Scheme’ which promises ‘golden hour’ treatment to road accident victims who will be entitled to a maximum benefit of up to Rs 30,000 for 72-hour hospital stay within the state. The intention is to save lives and bring down the fatality rate of road accidents by making treatment available immediately, said a senior health official.

According to the state health department, on an average 40,000 persons get injured and nearly 13,000 lives are lost annually in road accidents. The health department has pegged annual expenditure for implementation of the scheme at Rs 120 crore. The state will provide funds to the state health assurance society, a body which implements various health schemes.

The scheme was originally announced in 2016 by the then public health minister Deepak Sawant (Shiv Sena) during the previous Devendra Fadnavis government. However, it got stuck due to paucity of funds, said a senior official.

As per the scheme, any person, irrespective of whether he/she is from Maharashtra or from another state or country, can avail the benefit of the scheme if the road accident takes place within Maharashtra limits. The benefit is not applicable for injuries sustained in any other accident such as industrial mishaps, train accidents or accidents take place at home.

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