BJD, BJP in war of words over Ayushman Bharat scheme launch in Odisha

Bhubaneswar: Hours after Union Health Minister J P Nadda launched the Ayushman Bharat Yojana in Odisha, a war of words began between the ruling BJP and the opposition BJD over health insurance schemes in the state.

While the BJP called the previous government’s health insurance scheme a “scam”, the BJD alleged that the Odisha government just repeated its Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana (BSKY).

The BJP after 10 months could only change the name of the health scheme from BSKY to Gopabandhu Jan Arogya Yojana (GJAY), alleged BJD spokesperson Lekhashree Samantsinghar.

Rejecting the BJD allegation, Odisha’s Deputy Chief Minister Pravati Parida claimed that the Ayushman Yojana and GJAY are health assurance schemes and not health insurance ones.

“During the BJD government, the insurance companies were doing scams in the name of providing health treatment,” Parida said.

While insurance companies during the BJD government were deciding the amount to be spent on treatment of a patient, it is the doctors who decide under the Ayushman Bharat scheme, Parida claimed.

The BJD leader on the other hand pointed out that while as many as 3.56 crore people were covered under the BSKY, the number of beneficiaries has come down to 3.51 crore under Ayushman Bharat.

“As many as 5 lakh people have been denied health service by the BJP government,” Samantsinghar alleged and demanded a clarification from the state government.

The BJD leader claimed that the BSKY was completely state-funded, while the present scheme of the Mohan Charan Majhi government will operate on a sharing basis of 60:40 by the Centre and the state.

“We are sure that people will suffer as the Centre will not release funds on proper time,” she said.

The BJP government has only managed to change the scheme's name and hasn't been able to add any new features to the scheme, Samantsinghar claimed.

The BJD demanded that before the upcoming Rath Yatra, all 4.5 crore residents of Odisha must be included in the Ayushman Bharat scheme.

“While the BJP has been loudly promoting Ayushman Bharat, the CAG (Comptroller and Auditor General of India) in its report highlighted large-scale financial irregularities, corruption, and mismanagement in healthcare services under the scheme,” the BJD leader claimed.

In 2013-14, under the name "Biju Krushak Kalyan Yojana", Odisha implemented the country’s first health insurance scheme, creating a model, she said.

Later in August 2018, "Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana" was launched in assurance mode in the state, she said adding that the previous BSKY had helped Odisha achieve a leading position in reducing out-of-pocket health expenses across the country.

While Uttar Pradesh reduced such expenses by 13 per cent and Maharashtra by 20 per cent, Odisha was able to do it by 37 per cent, the BJD leader claimed.

“If the state's BJP government ensures inclusion of every Odia in the scheme before the Rath Yatra, and provides free healthcare benefits of Rs 10 lakh for men and Rs 15 lakh for women, then the so-called double engine government would prove it is genuinely working in the interest of the people of Odisha”, Samantsinghar said.

BJP state president Manmohan Samal has lauded the launching of Ayushman Bharat and thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Health Minister Nadda.