CM Naveen Patnaik Launches Third Phase Of Odisha’s Flagship Health Scheme

Bhubaneswar: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Friday (December 29) launched the third phase of the state’s flagship health scheme – Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana (BSKY). Mr Patnaik said with this third phase of expansion, it is estimated that over 1.10 crore families, covering nearly 90 per cent of the state’s population will be provided health assurance under BSKY.

The chief minister said that the BSKY will ensure that no family in Odisha is left vulnerable due to lack of financial resources to meet high expenditure for critical illnesses.

The families left out in the first two phases of the BSKY, would be covered in the third phase, Patnaik said while launching the new ‘BSKY Nabin Card’ for the beneficiaries. Mr Patnaik said,

We are now launching the third phase of BSKY, where all left-out families of rural areas of our state will be assured of cashless health service in private hospitals, for all critical ailments. Stating that the BSKY scheme was launched five years ago to provide health assurance to all, Patnaik said this expansion phase will include all rural families of the state except regular government employees and income taxpayers. The people not covered under BSKY will be eligible to receive the ‘BSKY Nabin Card’, he said.

Also Read: Odisha Expands Coverage Of Infrastructure Scheme To All Government Hospitals

As per the BSKY norms, the new beneficiaries will also be entitled to cashless care worth Rs 5 lakh per annum and the amount of coverage for women would be up to Rs 10 lakh in empanelled private hospitals both inside and outside the state. The chief minister said,

Sustha (Healthy) Odisha, Sukhi (Happy) Odisha has been the driving force behind all interventions in the health sector in Odisha. It has been my dream to provide universal health coverage to the people of Odisha, where healthcare is a right, accessible and affordable by all. To take this vision forward, the Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana was launched 5 years ago bringing about a revolution in providing health assurance to the people of Odisha.

In the first phase of the BSKY, all services in public health facilities were made free of cost for all persons, irrespective of income or residence.

In the second phase, BSKY provided cashless healthcare in private health facilities for all covered under Food Security Schemes and ration card holders.

Also Read: Odisha Extends Health Scheme Benefits To Children Between Five To 18 Years Age Group

Official sources said every month over 45 lakh persons receive free health care at public health facilities in the state, while 1.3 lakh persons received cashless care in private hospitals under BSKY. This amounts to Rs 260 crore each month in empanelled private hospitals.

In the past five years, BSKY has provided free healthcare service to nearly 21 lakh patients with cashless healthcare of about Rs 4,500 crores, in private hospitals alone. The chief minister said,

It has become a unique model for universal health coverage, leveraging the strengths of both the public and private sectors to provide comprehensive health assurance to the people of Odisha.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

NDTV – Dettol have been working towards a clean and healthy India since 2014 via the Banega Swachh India initiative, which in its Season 10 is helmed by Campaign Ambassador Ayushmann Khurrana. The campaign aims to highlight the inter-dependency of humans and the environment, and of humans on one another with the focus on One Health, One Planet, One Future – Leaving No One Behind. It stresses on the need to take care of, and consider, everyone’s health in India – especially vulnerable communities – the LGBTQ population, indigenous people, India’s different tribes, ethnic and linguistic minorities, people with disabilities, migrants, geographically remote populations, gender and sexual minorities. In a world post COVID-19 pandemic, the need for WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) is reaffirmed as handwashing is one of the ways to prevent Coronavirus infection and other diseases. The campaign will continue to raise awareness on the same along with focussing on the importance of nutrition and healthcare for women and children, fight malnutrition, mental well-being, self-care, science and health, adolescent health & gender awareness. Along with the health of people, the campaign has realised the need to also take care of the health of the eco-system. Our environment is fragile due to human activity, which is not only over-exploiting available resources, but also generating immense pollution as a result of using and extracting those resources. The imbalance has also led to immense biodiversity loss that has caused one of the biggest threats to human survival – climate change. It has now been described as a “code red for humanity.” The campaign will continue to cover issues like air pollution, waste management, plastic ban, manual scavenging and sanitation workers and menstrual hygiene. Banega Swasth India will also be taking forward the dream of Swasth Bharat, the campaign feels that only a Swachh or clean India where toilets are used and open defecation free (ODF) status achieved as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014, can eradicate diseases like diahorrea and the country can become a Swasth or healthy India.