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Bhubaneswar: At a time when decks are being cleared for the proposed merger of Central government's Ayushman Bharat (Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana) scheme and State government's Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana (BSKY), the plan seems to have now hit fresh hurdles after Odisha set a few conditions for the merger.
Odisha Health and Family Welfare Minister, Naba Das today informed that the State has requested the Centre to consider two conditions for BSKY & Ayushman Bharat merger that include doing away with mandatory Aadhaar requirement in State-run hospitals and coverage to 72 lakh families.
“Under BSKY, a person can undergo treatment in hospital without any card, but Centre is not willing to accept. We have already written a letter and we will review once we get any response,” said Das.
Das further clarified that it has not been decided whether there will be a merger or convergence of Ayushman Bharat and BSKY.
On Odisha’s conditions, Union Minister, Dharmendra Pradhan today stated that the State should implement the Ayushman Bharat scheme without creating any controversy.
“I think Odisha government is unnecessarily creating a controversy. I urge the State government to support the scheme,” said Pradhan.
Taking a dig at the State government, Odisha Congress president, Niranjan Patnaik said, “It seems that Odisha government has no money to run the scheme (BSKY) for which they are thinking about a KALIA scheme-like merger.”
