A good population of outdated vehicles, poor awareness and lack of road sense among the drivers has been a bane in Jammu and Kashmir for passengers and other road users. Poor road quality with low toll tax collection except for few points on the National Highway has made roads almost a nightmare for the public. The issue of toll tax collection which is poor in the State had seen protests all through Jammu region few years back and some of the protesters even damaged a toll tax point. The remains of the damaged infrastructure can be seen today also. State by this attitude stands to lose more than gain. Blame for such poor record goes to policy makers and politicians who just for few votes have surrendered all safety norms. Under such a circumstance it is the people who stand to lose in terms of life and facilities and not the politicians. Alienated Jammu and Kashmir stands to lose the benefits of ‘cashless treatment scheme’ for road crash victims. Under the Union Government’s move ‘cashless treatment scheme’ for road crash victims of the Golden Quadrilateral and North-South and East-West Corridors all the victims will get free treatment for the first 48 hours, which is the crucial and decisive time, at hospitals located nearest to the crash site. The scheme envisages that victims do not have to pay for the expenditure up to Rs 30,000. Government plan to raise road cess and motor vehicle insurance to garner additional funds would take care of the needed fund. In fact insurance companies have been the driving force behind providing immediate medical care to road crash victims in developed countries. The project was introduced on experimental basis in areas where toll tax collection is high and traffic flow is heavy. On an average the State’s roads claim more lives than militancy or the calamity especially in the districts, where number of accidents is increasing which shows that there is no progress on the directions issued by the Governor in February 2015 which include carrying out improvements in the road architecture particularly in the vulnerable districts.
