Rah-Veer Yojana (Good Samaritan Reward Scheme) in Madhya Pradesh

What is Rah-Veer Yojana?

Rah-Veer Yojana is the Good Samaritan reward scheme notified by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways and implemented on the ground in Madhya Pradesh by the Home Department through the district police, together with the Transport Department. The word rah-veer means "hero of the road", and that is exactly who the scheme is aimed at. The passer-by, auto driver, truck driver or shopkeeper who stops at a crash site and takes the injured person to hospital.

India loses well over a lakh of lives to road accidents every year, and a large share of those deaths happen because nobody moved the victim in the first hour. Rah-Veer Yojana attacks that specific problem by paying Rs 25,000 and giving a Certificate of Appreciation to anyone who gets a seriously injured victim into hospital within the golden hour.

The Ministry defines the golden hour as the one-hour period following a traumatic injury during which there is the highest likelihood of preventing death by providing prompt medical care. That definition is not decorative. It is the operative test the district committee applies when it looks at the hospital record.

Key features

• Rs 25,000 cash reward per Good Samaritan per incident.
• Certificate of Appreciation issued alongside the cash.
• 10 national awards of Rs 1,00,000 each year for the most exceptional cases.
• No application form. The case is raised by the police station and the hospital.
• Approved by a district appraisal committee that meets monthly.
• Payment routed by the State Transport Commissioner through the government's public financial management system.

Who is eligible for the Rah-Veer reward?

You can be rewarded if:

• You took a road accident victim to a hospital or trauma care centre, or otherwise arranged for the victim to reach one.
• The victim reached medical care within the golden hour: one hour of the injury.
• The injury was serious. The Ministry's test covers cases needing major surgery, at least three days of hospitalisation, brain injury or spinal cord injury, and cases where the victim dies during treatment despite being brought in.
• You gave your name, contact number and bank details to the police station or the hospital so the case can be raised. This is voluntary, but the reward cannot be paid to an anonymous helper.

You are not eligible if:

• The injuries were minor and the victim was treated and discharged without admission. Everyday first aid, though welcome, does not attract the reward.
• The victim reached hospital after the one-hour golden hour had passed.
• You are the person responsible for the accident, or a party to it. The scheme rewards a bystander, not a driver settling their own liability.
• You are on duty as an emergency responder, an ambulance crew member, police officer or hospital staffer acting in the course of their job, because the reward is designed for the ordinary citizen who had no obligation to help.
• The incident was not a road accident covered by the scheme.

Even where the reward does not apply, the Good Samaritan protections still do. A person who helps an accident victim in India cannot be detained, cannot be made to pay for the victim's treatment, and cannot be compelled to disclose personal details.

How to claim the Rah-Veer reward in Madhya Pradesh

1. Get the victim to the nearest hospital or trauma centre immediately. Call 108 for an ambulance or 112 for emergency response if you cannot move the person safely yourself. Speed matters more than paperwork, the entire reward rests on the victim reaching care within one hour.
2. Tell the hospital staff that you brought in an accident victim. The hospital's medical officer records the time of arrival and the nature of the injury, which is the evidence the committee later relies on.
3. Give your name, mobile number, identity proof and bank account details to the police station handling the case, or to the hospital, and say that you wish to be considered under the Rah-Veer scheme. You are free to leave after this; nobody can hold you back.
4. Ask for a copy of the acknowledgement letter the police prepare in your favour. This is your proof that the case was registered.
5. Wait for the district appraisal committee to meet. The committee — the District Magistrate, the Senior Superintendent of Police, the Chief Medical and Health Officer and the Regional Transport Officer; reviews the police and hospital reports and approves qualifying cases at its monthly meeting.
6. Receive the payment. Approved proposals go to the State Transport Commissioner, who releases Rs 25,000 electronically to the bank account you gave, along with the Certificate of Appreciation.

How does the verification actually work?

Rah-Veer Yojana deliberately places the burden of proof on the system rather than on the citizen. According to the Ministry's process, when a Good Samaritan informs the police about an accident, the police verify the details with the medical officer who treated the victim. Once the medical officer confirms that the injury was serious and that the victim arrived within the golden hour, the police prepare an official letter in favour of the rah-veer and forward it up the chain.

The district appraisal committee is the deciding body. Because it meets monthly, there is normally a gap of a few weeks between the accident and the approval. Cases approved by the committee are forwarded to the State Transport Commissioner for payment, which is why the money arrives through the transport department rather than the police.

How do I follow up on a pending Rah-Veer case?

1. Contact the police station where the accident was recorded and quote the date, time and location of the accident along with your name.
2. Contact the Regional Transport Office in your district. The RTO sits on the district appraisal committee and can confirm whether your case was placed before it.
3. Check with the hospital that the medical officer's confirmation was sent, a missing medical confirmation is the most common reason a case never reaches the committee.
4. Register a complaint on the CM Helpline 181 if the case has not been placed before the committee after two monthly cycles.

Why do Rah-Veer claims fail?

• The helper left without giving any details. Understandable, but it makes payment impossible. Giving a mobile number takes seconds and costs nothing.
• No medical confirmation on record that the injury was serious. If the victim was discharged the same day, the case will not qualify.
• Golden hour not established. The hospital's recorded arrival time is what counts, so make sure the staff note when you brought the person in.
• Bank details wrong or missing, so the electronic transfer fails at the payment stage.
• The helper was a party to the accident, which disqualifies the claim.
• The case was never forwarded by the police station. This is a process failure rather than an eligibility failure, and it is exactly what a follow-up with the RTO or a CM Helpline complaint is for.

What should I remember about the Rah-Veer scheme?

Rah-Veer Yojana is unusual among Indian schemes because there is no form to fill, no portal to register on and no document set to assemble in advance. What it asks of a citizen is a decision made in seconds at a crash site, followed by two minutes of giving details at the hospital.

The reward is Rs 25,000 per Good Samaritan per incident, and where more than one rah-veer helped in the same accident, the reward is Rs 25,000 per victim saved subject to that per-person ceiling. Ten cases nationally are chosen each year for an additional award of Rs 1,00,000.

The revamped Rah-Veer scheme became effective on 21 April 2025 under the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, with a defined scheme period that later orders have extended. Because the validity window is set by notification rather than being open-ended, confirm the current position with your district Regional Transport Office before counting on the reward. The Good Samaritan protections that stop you being detained or charged for the victim's treatment are separate from the reward scheme and do not expire.

Where do I get help?

• 108: ambulance service across Madhya Pradesh.
• 112. The integrated emergency response number for police, fire and medical.
• Regional Transport Office of your district, which sits on the appraisal committee.
• Madhya Pradesh CM Helpline: 181, for a case that has stalled.
• Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, morth.gov.in, for the scheme notification and its current validity.