Chennai, Nov 19 (IANS): The Tamil Nadu government will form a Road Safety Authority in the coming days to implement schemes to improve safety on roads.

A statement from the Chief Minister's Office said that Chief Minister M.K. Stalin had chaired a meeting with the ministers and officials from various departments on Thursday to discuss the various aspects regarding road safety.

The Chief Minister told the officials to reduce the road accident fatality rate, which is presently at 23.9 per lakh population.

He said that various schemes have been proposed to improve road safety, and called upon the officials to take initiatives to make road travel safe for the commuters.

The state government, according to the statement, has already formulated a draft plan for the promotion of road safety, and has roped in 609 hospitals to provide medical assistance to accident victims within 48 hours.

The statement also said that an amount of Rs 50 crore has been earmarked to initiate a scheme to provide medical assistance to accident victims during the first 48 hours.

The scheme, according to the statement, will include emergency response, rescue and resuscitation, damage control surgery, and rehabilitation.

The statement also said that the government would enact a law to promote road safety.

The statement added that all those involved in road accidents, including foreign nationals, would be benefitted by the new scheme.