Good Samaritan Scheme 2025: Ministry of Road Transport & Highways has launched the Scheme for grant of award to the Good Samaritan, on 3rd October 2021. The scheme to give reward to the individual who has saved life of the road accident victim involving motor vehicle by administering immediate assistance and rushing to Hospital/ Trauma care Centre within the Golden Hour of the accident to medical treatment. The amount of the award of each Good Samaritan would be Rs 5000/- per accident.
In the month of January, 2025 Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Nithin Gadkari announced that the award of the Good Samaritans will be increase. He stated that the government plans to raise the reward for the Good Samaritans Scheme from Rs 5000 to Rs 25,000, which is five times more. The increases aimed at encouraging bystanders to step up during emergencies. The announcement made during a road safety program which held in Nagpur, attended by actor Anupam Kher reported in India Today.
Period of the Operation of the Scheme
The scheme will remain operational till the completion of 15th Financial cycle, i.e. till 31st March 2026.
Benefits of the Good Samaritan Scheme
- A Good Samaritan who saves one or more victims of a single fatal motor vehicle accident will receive an award of Rs. 5,000.
- If multiple Good Samaritans save the life of one victim, the Rs. 5,000 award will, divided equally among them.
- If multiple Good Samaritans save the lives of multiple victims, the award will be Rs. 5,000 per victim, subject to a maximum of Rs. 5,000 per Good Samaritan.
- Every cash award will be accompanied by a Certificate of Appreciation for the Good Samaritan.
- National Level Awards: At the national level, 10 Good Samaritans will select annually from among those awarded during the year.
- Each of these selected Good Samaritans will receive a National Award of Rs. 1,00,000.
Eligibility Good Samaritan Scheme
An individual who saves the life of a victim in a fatal motor vehicle accident by providing immediate assistance and ensuring the victim, taken to a hospital within the Golden Hour for medical treatment.
Those Individual who are not willing to disclose their details, will not awarded under the scheme.
An individual Good Samaritan can be rewarded maximum 5 times in a year
How to apply for
If the Good Samaritan informs the police about the incident, the police will verify the details with the doctor and issue an acknowledgment on official letterhead. This will include the Good Samaritan’s name, contact details, incident details, and their role in saving the victim. A copy will be sent to the District Appraisal Committee and the Good Samaritan, using a standard format nationwide.
If the Good Samaritan directly takes the victim to the hospital, the hospital will provide details to the police. The police will issue an acknowledgment to the Good Samaritan with relevant incident information. A copy of the acknowledgment will sent to the District Appraisal Committee and the Good Samaritan.
The District Level Appraisal Committee will include the District Magistrate, SSP, CMOH, and RTO. A State Level Monitoring Committee, chaired by the Principal Secretary (Home) with members from Health, Traffic, and Transport departments, will hold quarterly meetings to oversee the scheme’s implementation.
The District Level Appraisal Committee will review and approve proposals monthly, forwarding them to the State/UT Transport Commissioner for payment. Payments to Good Samaritans will be made directly to their bank accounts, with MoRTH reimbursing the Transport Department monthly.
By September 30th (or a date set by MoRTH), each State/UT’s Monitoring Committee will nominate three deserving Good Samaritans for national-level awards.