Will publicly felicitate people who help road accident victims: Delhi Minister

NEW DELHI: As the apathy of people to road accident victims was exposed again after a security guard bled to death in west Delhi, the city government on Thursday said it will soon announce a scheme under which people, including drivers of taxis and autorickshaws, will be rewarded for taking victims to hospital. Delhi Home Minister Satyendar Jain said that the government has prepared a draft of the scheme where an incentive will be announced to ensure immediate help to road accident victims in the national capital. The draft will be tabled in the Cabinet by the end of this month and then sent to Lt Governor Najeeb Jung for his approval. The government’s move comes a day after a 35-year-old security guard died on road after being hit by a speeding delivery van in West Delhi’s Subhash Nagar area, with no passerby coming to his help for an hour while a rickshaw puller stole the victim’s mobile phone. The whole incident was captured on a CCTV camera installed near Meraj cinema in Subhash Nagar where the victim Matibul was hit by a delivery van in the wee hours. “It is very unfortunate that no one come to assist him. Government has prepared an incentive scheme under which people including drivers of taxi and auto, taking road accident victims to hospital will be rewarded,” the Home Minister said. He also said that a Cabinet note has been prepared in this regard. The proposal of the scheme will soon be tabled in the Delhi Cabinet by the end of this month and subsequently, it will be sent to the Lt Governor for his final approval to implement the scheme in the national capital. Jain said that usually people don’t take road accident victims to nearest hospital fearing that they may be questioned by the police. “There is also a Supreme Court directive that such people who help accidet victims cannot be harassed or questioned. I appeal to people to help them as it is a pious task to save someone’s life,” he said. According to police, Matibul was walking back to his home near Tihar village when he was hit by the van around 3 AM on Wednesday. The entire incident as well as the injured Matibul lying on the road and people passing him by was recorded by the CCTV camera. The recording also showed that a rickshaw puller came near him and took away his phone. The victim was a native of West Bengal and lived in a rented accommodation near Tihar village. Police said that they received information about a body lying on the road in Subhash Nagar at 7 AM, following which a team was rushed to the spot which took it for autopsy.