By TIOL News Service

NEW DELHI, JAN 29, 2020: THE Union Minister for Road Transport & Highways and MSMEs, Mr Nitin Gadkari, has called for including the road projects in the country into the ambit of insurance. He said, several countries in the world are following the practice of insuring infrastructure projects. These include Canada, Australia, USA, South Africa and UK.

Addressing a Workshop on Motor Vehicle Insurance and Road Safety in New Delhi today, the Minister informed that the Supreme Court has made it mandatory for all new two wheelers to have a five-year third party insurance. Similarly, for cars and commercial vehicles, it is mandatory to have a three-year third party insurance. In case of default, there is a provision of fine up to Rupees two thousand. Under the third party insurance, the responsibility of compensating an accident victim shifts from the vehicle owner to insurance company.

Underlining the importance of insurance, Shri Gadkari said, with a little procedural change in insurance practices, the death rate due to road accidents can be brought down significantly. He said, his Ministry is considering forming a Motor Vehicle Accident Fund, which will fund the amount for compensation for hit and run cases. The Fund will also be used for medical treatment of accident victims. He said, the compensation amount in hit and run cases has been increased to Rs 2 lakh, while for the injured people in such cases, it is now Rs 50 thousand. The Minister said, provision has been made in the Motor Vehicles Act to protect those helping the accident victims. The government is also contemplating making provision for protection of doctors, nurses and other medical staff from hassles in such cases, he said.

Two special booklets titled ‘Road Safety Guide for Children’ and ‘Road Safety and Safe Driving’ were released on the occasion.