BHUBANESWAR: A day after former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh Shivraj Singh Chouhan appealed to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik for immediate implementation of Ayushman Bharat, BJP MPs from the State made a similar request to Naveen on Monday.
In a joint letter to the Chief Minister, 12 BJP MPs from the State said, “We request you to adopt and implement Ayushman Bharat - Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) scheme across Odisha helping the country in progressively achieving universal health coverage and strengthening our commitment towards a healthy India.”
Drawing the attention of Chief Minister to the immense benefits AB-PMJAY has to offer, the BJP MPs said it allows nation-wide portability through which Odisha’s beneficiaries, especially needy migrant workers, can avail health care facilities anywhere in the country.
The State will also gain access to latest technological, fraud-control and analytical platforms developed by National Health Authority (NHA) without any financial burden and immensely benefit from benchmarking the best practices across India.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his five visits to the State over past nine months had never missed an opportunity to request your support in enrolling Odisha for reaping the benefits of the Ayushman Bharat programme,” the letter stated.
The BJP lawmakers said, “Modi has rightly said Ayushman Bharat, the world’s largest health care programme, is a game changer and an opportunity to serve the poor.”
The scheme seeks to cover 50 crore beneficiaries in the country, including over 60 lakh beneficiaries in Odisha.
Since inception of the scheme, the BJP has been assiduously seeking the support of State Government for implementation of the AB-PMJAY scheme keeping in mind the acute public health challenges in the State.
“We were encouraged to learn about the State Government’s reconsideration for implementation of AB-PMJAY following discussions between Health Minister Naba Kishore Das, Chief Secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi and CEO AB-PMJAY Indu Bhusan, subsequent to the June 3, 2019 letter by Union Minister of Health Harsh Vardhan to you,” they said.
Assuring that the State Government will not face any financial crunch, the BJP MPs said their collective efforts will ensure that the State gets adequate funding under this flagship scheme from the Centre.