Cuttack (Odisha): Union Health Minister J P Nadda launched the Ayushman Bharat scheme in Odisha.
He also launched the Ayushman Vaya-Vandana Yojana and the state-run Gopabandhu Jan Arogya Yojana (GJAY) in the presence of Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi.
Deputy Chief Ministers K V Singh Deo and Pravati Parida, state Health Minister Mukesh Mahaling and several MPs and MLAs were present at the function organised on the Bali Yatra Ground near the Mahanadi River in Cuttack.
“There were three states – Odisha, Delhi, and West Bengal – where the Ayushman Bharat scheme was not implemented. However, the scheme came into operation in Odisha and Delhi after the change of government in these states. The people of Bengal will also get the facility and the BJP is committed to provide this health scheme to all the citizens of India,” he said.
Nadda claimed that the state governments that put hurdles before the implementation of the Narendra Modi government’s welfare schemes have paid a price.
“The people have rejected the governments in Odisha and also in Delhi,” he said.
The BJP in February returned to power in Delhi after more than 26 years, defeating the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party with a two-thirds majority.
Nadda recalled how he, as a Union health minister, had appealed to both Naveen Patnaik and Aravind Kejriwal, erstwhile CMs of Odisha and Delhi respectively, to implement the Ayushman Bharat scheme but got rejected.
“We have requested Naveen Babu several times, but he claimed that his BJD government’s health scheme was better than Ayushman Bharat. Similar was the case of Kejriwal,” he said.
He said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Ayushman Bharat Scheme at Ranchi in September 2018. However, three states refused to implement it and two of them have been ousted from power by the people.
Billed as the world’s largest government healthcare program, the scheme aims to provide a coverage of Rs 5 lakh per family annually.
Nadda said that as many as 61 crore people in the country are availing benefits from the scheme and the Union government in the last six years has spent Rs 1.26 lakh crore towards the treatment of poor people.
Calling it a “historic day” for Odisha, Nadda said as many as 3.51 crore people of 1.03 lakh families of the state will get the benefit from the schemes like Ayushman Bharat, Ayushman Vaya-Vandana Yojana, and the state-run Gopabandhu Jan Arogya Yojana (GJAY).
The Union minister said each member of a family will get separate cards, and they can avail the health service facility in 30,000 government and private hospitals across the country.
“I understand that many people from Odisha work in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and other places. They all can avail of this facility,” Nadda said.
Nadda launched the scheme in the presence of Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi and others.
Addressing the gathering, Majhi said that the previous BJD government did not implement the Ayushman Bharat scheme due to political reasons, and because of this, the people suffered.
“However, after installation of the double engine government (in Odisha), the people are getting benefits earlier denied to them,” he said.
The chief minister said the BJP government has been filling vacant posts of doctors and para-medical staff.
“Today, our government completes 10 months, and during this period, we have filled up 4000 posts, including doctors in the healthcare facilities,” he said adding that 5,374 doctors and dentists will be recruited very soon.
Majhi said the Odisha government is emphasising opening medical colleges.
At present the state has 12 medical colleges and two others will start functioning soon, he said.
Budgetary allocations have been made for setting up new medical colleges in Bhadrak, Jagatsinghpur, Nabarangpur, and Dhenkanal district,s along with four dental colleges.
