BHUBANESWAR: Although the State government claimed that its Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana (BSKY) would transform the healthcare service delivery mechanism in Odisha, there is no clarity on the number of families who would be covered under the scheme.
The State government had introduced BSKY on August 15, 2018 after rejecting the Centre’s Ayushman Bharat - Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana as Odisha’s demand to include 10 lakh more families was denied.
The State expanded the scheme’s coverage earlier this week. However, confusion over beneficiaries has surfaced again with different departments and the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) suggesting different figures.
While the Health department communication to the collectors reveal that around 92.5 lakh families will be covered under BSKY, a CMO release stated that 3.5 crore people of 96 lakh families would benefit from the fully State-owned scheme.
The CMO figure was also corroborated by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik in his Independence Day speech. Announcing the expansion of BSKY to all families getting ration under both the national and State food security schemes, he said the 3.5 crore people will be benefited through 200 empanelled hospitals across the country.
While many were of the opinion that the Health department’s calculation may have gone wrong, an advertisement issued by the I & PR department in newspapers on Tuesday added to the confusion. It stated more than 3.3 crore people of 92.5 lakh families will benefit.
Similarly, the tender floated for the preparation of smart health cards states that 1.85 crore cards will be distributed among 92.5 lakh families (two cards per family).
If the data by the Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare department is to be believed, 3,36,74,649 people in 96,73,445 families are now getting ration under both national and State food security schemes in the State. It includes 3,25,38,027 people in 93,04,217 families under NFSA and 11,36,622 people in 3,69,228 families under SFSA.
Additional Chief Secretary of Health PK Mohapatra, however, said, as per preliminary estimate, 92.5 lakh families will get annual health coverage of Rs 5 lakh each (Rs 10 lakh for women members) from September 1 onwards.
NUMBER GAME
BSKY was extended to all families getting ration under national and State food security schemes
96.73L families are getting ration from govt
I&PR ad mentions 92.5L families as BSKY beneficiaries
Govt tender states 2 health cards each for 92.5L families