Government Proposes 10 Minute Modern Ambulance Plan to Reduce Road Deaths

Government Proposes 10 Minute Modern Ambulance Plan to Reduce Road Deaths

Why in News? 

Recently, the Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways informed that the government is developing a comprehensive 10 minute Modern Ambulance Plan to reduce road deaths and save lives. This comprehensive plan is part of a broader strategy to improve emergency medical response and road safety in India. 

Ten Minute Modern Ambulance Plan

• The “10-Minute Modern Ambulance Plan” is a new initiative of the Government of India to ensure that specialized ambulances reach road accident victims within 10 minutes. 
• The plan is part of a broader strategy to utilize the “Golden Hour” to reduce road accident fatalities by up to 50,000 lives annually. 
• According to plan the centre will sign Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) with state governments to reimburse ambulance operational expenses only if they meet the 10-minute arrival target.
• Unlike standard ambulances, these modern vehicles will be equipped with specialized tools for complex rescue scenarios, such as extracting victims from vehicles that have fallen into gorges.
• The plan integrates these ambulance services with a single, centralized emergency helpline number to streamline the dispatch process across different states.
•  The ambulance plan complements existing health initiatives. It aligns with trauma care centres developed under national road safety programmes.

Need for Rapid Emergency Response in India’s Road Safety Framework

• Scale of the Road Accident: India continues to record one of the highest numbers of road accident fatalities globally. According to official figures, nearly 500,000 road accidents occur in India every year, claiming an average of 180,000 lives. In 2024 the country witnessed over 1,77,000 deaths due to road accidents. This meant roughly 485 lives lost every single day across India. Most of these accidents involve young adults aged 18 to 45 years old, pointing to a major loss of productive years and societal burden.

• National & Regional Hotspots: National highways, while forming a small portion of India’s total road network, contribute a large share of fatalities. In the first half of 2025 alone, nearly 27,000 people died on national highways. This data shows that high-speed corridors are particularly vulnerable to severe accidents where emergency medical response must be faster to save lives. 

• High-Risk Behaviours: Government reports show that speeding was responsible for nearly 68% of road accident deaths in recent years. Other causes like non-use of helmets and seatbelts also contribute significantly to fatalities. These behaviours lead to severe trauma requiring immediate medical assistance.

• Regional Variations: Certain regions within states have alarmingly high accident figures. For example, in 2025 Ujjain district recorded over 1,600 accidents with more than 370 fatalities by October. These localized spikes in accidents show regional clusters where faster emergency help can dramatically reduce loss of life.

• ‘Golden Hour’ Concept: Medical studies consistently show that the first 60 minutes after an accident, often called the ‘golden hour’, are crucial for saving lives. Survivors of severe trauma are much more likely to recover if they receive specialised medical treatment within the first few minutes. This is one of the main reasons behind advocating such a model.

• Gaps in Emergency Response: In many regions, especially rural areas and highway stretches between towns, ambulances and trauma care centres are far apart. Traffic congestion, delayed alerts, and lack of coordinated response systems contribute to delays. This gap increases the risk of fatalities even when accidents are not severe.

Government Policies and Initiatives

• Cashless Immediate Care: The government extended cashless medical cover to accident victims for the first seven days of hospitalization. The scheme provides up to ₹1.5 lakh per person to remove financial delay in emergency care. This coverage aims to reduce time lost in arranging payments at the critical start of treatment. 

• Rah-Veer’ Good Samaritan Reward: The Centre launched the Rah-Veer scheme to reward and shield citizens who help accident victims. The scheme offers a cash reward of ₹25,000 to eligible helpers. The scheme started in 2025 as an enhancement of the earlier good samaritan measures. The scheme also reinforces legal protection for helpers. 

• National Ambulance Network: The government continues to expand the National Ambulance Services network that operates numbers such as 108 and 102. The Ministry reported over 15,000 Basic Life Support ambulances and several thousand advanced units under NAS as of mid-2024 and progress updates published in 2025.

• Unified Emergency Response: The government integrated services under 112 and implemented Emergency Response Support System (ERSS) to coordinate police fire and medical response. ERSS enables real time tracking of rescue vehicles on a digital map. The system helps dispatch the nearest available ambulance or rescue unit and reduce response time.

• • Trauma Care Facilities: The Ministry of Health runs the National Programme for Prevention & Management of Trauma and Burn Injuries. The programme sanctioned trauma care facilities and provided funds to upgrade hospitals near highways. Since the 11th plan the government approved and supported over 100 trauma care facilities and continued work into 2023-2025.

• Skill Development: The government expanded Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) and paramedic training under national skill initiatives. The courses follow national curricula and cover pre-hospital trauma care. The training scale up accelerated in 2024-2025 to create a larger pool of skilled ambulance crews and first responders.

Conclusion

The Ten Minute Modern Ambulance Plan reflects a decisive shift in India’s approach to road safety and emergency healthcare. This initiative complements existing measures such as cashless treatment trauma care centres and unified emergency numbers. In the long term the plan supports India’s commitment to global road safety targets and public health goals, including injuries by 50 percent by 2030, in line with the Stockholm Declaration.