BHUBANESWAR: The BJP on Wednesday hit out at the State government for launching the new smart health card under Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana (BSKY) terming it a political stunt to woo voters ahead of the panchayat elections.
Dubbing the smart health card as an election pushing card, BJP State general secretary Lekhashree Samantsinghar said this is another attempt to hoodwink the people as the scheme has miserably failed to provide assured universal health coverage as promised.
The scheme launched on August 15, 2018 aims to provide free health services at all the government hospitals and 208 private hospitals empanelled within and outside the State.
The condition of the government hospitals at primary and secondary level and the quality of treatment is known to all, she said and alleged that most of the empanelled private hospitals with huge outstanding bills are refusing to provide health services under BSKY in the State.
"Will the BSKY smart health card ensure cashless treatment of the beneficiaries in private hospitals," she asked.
The BJP leader said the BSKY has completed three years. If the scheme was so successful, the Chief Minister should disclose number of people benefited by BSKY with specific reference to the beneficiaries who received cashless treatment at private hospitals, she said.
The BJD, on the other hand, accused the BJP of showing the BSKY in a poor light and asserted that the scheme will immensely benefit the people of Odisha.
Countering BJP allegations, BJD spokesperson Ipsita Sahu said that the BJP is in the habit of opposing any good scheme or programme launched by the State government.
However, in the course of time the BSKY will be launched even in the BJP ruled states like the Mamata and Krushak Assistance for Livelihood and Income Augmentation (KALIA) schemes.
President of the Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) Niranjan Patnaik, however, welcomed the launching of the BSKY smart health card. He demanded that all the citizens of Odisha should be covered instead of 3.5 crore people as announced by the government.
The State government should follow West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee who has launched a health Sathee card for all people of the state.