BHUBANESWAR: Politics over the state government’s Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana (BSKY) has intensified with the BJP dubbing it an election propaganda while the Congress saying the health card should be for all.
Chief minister Naveen Patnaik on Sunday announced plans to expand BSKY to cover 96 lakh families, up from the current 71.69 lakh. That means around 3.5 crore people of the state’s 4.5 crore population will get smart health cards.
BJP state general secretary Lekhashree Samantsinghar told the media on Wednesday that BSKY is a failed scheme. “It could not be successfully implemented in all districts. Health sector is in a poor condition in Odisha. Without further delay, the state government should implement Ayushman Bharat in Odisha for the benefit of the people,” Samantsinghar said.
Congress state president Niranjan Patnaik said the government should include all people in the scheme. “Why will one crore Odias be deprived of the scheme?” he asked.
The BJD slammed Samantsinghar for her comment. “Whenever the state government comes up with a scheme for its people, BJP criticises it for the sake of criticism. Samantsinghar is playing dirty politics over this issue. She will know how the scheme helps the people in the coming days,” said Ipsita Sahu, BJD spokesperson.
