Maharashtra govt approves accidental insurance scheme named after Shiv Sena founder Balasaheb Thackeray

The Uddhav Thackeray government in Maharashtra has launched a new accidental insurance scheme in the state on Wednesday. The announcement about the launch of the new scheme was made by the state Health Minister Rajesh Tope, according to news agency ANI. The scheme which has been envisaged to come to the rescue of accident victims, has been named Balasaheb Thackeray Accidental Insurance Scheme to commemorate the founder of the Shiv Sena and father of the current Chief Minister of the state Uddhav Thackeray. The scheme has been launched by the government with an aim of providing timely treatment to the accident victims which could prove crucial in saving their lives, the minister said.

According to the provisions of the insurance scheme, accident victims will be entitled to a maximum aid of Rs 30,000 by the state government, which could come in use to cover the immediate treatment cost at the private hospitals across the state. Providing immediate treatment to accident victims proves very crucial and the scheme has been aimed at ensuring timely treatment to the accident victims is not denied even in private hospitals for the want of money. The minister also said that all the accident victims would also be provided with free treatment in government hospitals.

Similar road accident insurance schemes have been launched by various state governments and the central government in the past to the rescue of the accident victims. India is one of the worst-performing countries when it comes to the casualties caused due to road accidents. An attempt to provide accidental insurance cover was also made by the Modi government soon after it came to power in its first term in the form of Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana, which ensured financial aid to the families of those deceased in road accidents and critically injured people in return of meagre annual premiums.