The Bengal administration has issued an order communicating Good Samaritan Guidelines to all government and private hospitals in the state to encourage passers-by to help road accident victims and protect such people from legal and procedural hassles.

The Centre formulated the Good Samaritan Guidelines on the direction of the Supreme Court. The Law Commission of India had observed that around 50 per cent oftotal deaths on roads happened because of delays inor a lack of appropriate medical care as accident victims were mostly not taken to hospital without police intervention.

The order issued by the Bengal health and family welfare department on Wednesday states that the guidelines “must be displayed in conspicuous/prominent places in all categories of government and private hospitals”.

According to the guidelines a bystander who takes the victim to the hospital “should be allowed to leave immediately” and without seeking any questions. “Good Samaritan should not be forced to share his/her contact details, if he is unwilling to do so, and he volunteers for the same,” the guidelines state.

The guidelines also state that the bystander shall not be liable for any civil and criminal proceedings.

“People fear being dragged into cases for just helping and the guidelines could be game changers for such thoughts,” said a lawyer.

The guidelines, however, state that “disciplinary or department action shall be initiated by the concerned authority against delinquent official who coerces or intimates a bystander or good Samaritan for revealing his name or personal details or causes harassment on any pretext”.

According to the ministry of road transport and highways, a total of 4,12, 432 road accidents were reported in India in 2021, claiming 1,53,972 lives and injuring around 3.8 lakh people.

“Unfortunately, the worst affected age group in road accidents is 18-45 years, which accounts for about 67 percent of total accidental deaths,” Nitin Gadkari, minister of road transport and highways, said in the ministry’s annual report.

Those calling up the police or emergency services for the people lying injured on the road need not reveal their names or personaldetails on the phone or in person.

Even the disclosure of personal information “shall be made voluntary and optional including in the Medico Legal Case (MLC) form provided by the hospitals”.

In a clear instruction to private hospitals, the guidelines state that they must not detain bystanders or demand payment for registration and admission costs, “unless the good Samaritan is a family member or relative of the injured and the injured is to be treated immediately. No delay should also be caused in treatment of brought/admitted RTA victims”.