BENGALURU: A month after Karnataka became the first state in the country to have a Good Samaritan Act in place, after the Bill received Presidential assent, the original petitioner in the SC on this issue has written to the Chief Minister’s Office on its implementation status, but is yet to get a reply.
SaveLIFE Foundation was also involved in the drafting of the Karnataka law.
The state needs to form a grievance redressal body to address violations of the law, put a system in place to levy penalties on doctors, hospitals and policemen who do not abide by the statutes surrounding the law, and also form a body that will give monetary rewards to good Samaritans who come forward and help road accident victims.
SaveLIFE Foundation said when a randomised survey was done in April-May among 330 people in Bengaluru, 92 per cent were unaware of the Law.
“Under Section 141 of the Constitution, the SC judgement says all states should implement the law. Whether the local law has been formed or not should have no bearing on its implementation. A month ago, we wrote to CM’s office on its implementation status, but are yet to hear from them,” Piyush Tewari, CEO of SaveLIFE Foundation, said.
“We have not seen any public communication from the government, informing the public of these new rights they have now under the Good Samaritan Law -- like if they are detained in hospital for having helped a victim,” he added.
Jawaid Akhtar, principal secretary, Department of Health and Family Welfare, said, “We are yet to form a grievance redressal body, a penalty system and a body to reward Good Samaritans. We are yet to omit one of the clauses in the Act and need to get it passed in the Belagavi session of Assembly.”