Around 1,000 villagers, restaurant staffers and petrol pump employees living or working around state and national highways in Maharashtra will soon be trained to save lives as they are usually the first responders after a road crash.

They will be trained under the initiative, ‘Mrityunjay Doot’, by the Maharashtra Highway Police which will start in March. Volunteers will be trained to administer first-aid, safely carry an accident victim, and call for an ambulance or get to a hospital, stated a report in The Times of India.