BJD MLA Supports Odisha Opp Claim On COVID-19 Mismanagement

Bhubaneswar: A ruling BJD legislator on Sunday dropped a bombshell by saying that the Opposition’s allegation of gross mismanagement in the treatment of the COVID-19 patients in Odisha is not entirely false.

“I agree with the allegations of the Opposition that in terms of the rise in the number of COVID-19 patients in the state, the number of ICU beds in the COVID hospitals is much less. As a result, critical patients are deprived of treatment. We have to increase the ICU beds and set up more COVID hospitals to ensure that the patients will get proper treatment,” Satyabadi MLA, Umakanta Samantaray told the media here.

Samantaray also claimed that non-COVID-19 patients are not being provided with proper treatment in hospitals.

He alleged that there is a disparity between the Odisha State Treatment Fund (OSTF) and Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana (BSKY) cards.

“The fact remains that the poor people are not getting the benefits of BSKY in leading private hospitals who are not accepting the BSKY card as the state government has not inked MoU with them. We will raise this issue in the Assembly and draw the attention of the Chief Minister and health minister,” he pointed out.

Congress leader Tara Prasad Bahinipati “thanked” the BJD MLA for admitting to COVID-19 mismanagement and claimed that the state government will initiate stern action against the Satyabadi MLA for speaking the truth.

In his reaction, BJP leader and Sambalpur MLA Jayanarayan Mishra said that not only the BJD legislator but rather everyone in Odisha will say that COVID management is a total failure.

“What steps the state government had taken at the panchayat level? While the COVID patients were kept in the institutional quarantine centres at the panchayat level, there was no toilet facility for them,” Mishra said.

Referring to the treatment of COVID-19 patients in private hospitals, the BJP leader alleged that these hospitals are looting the people by charging Rs 50,000 from each patient every day. “How many people have the capacity to pay this hefty amount? By the way, where is the 5-T? I had said in the Assembly that 5T is only a farce and now it is proved,” he added.