Bhubaneswar: A delegation of the BJP MPs from Odisha met Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Mansukh Mandaviya in New Delhi on Tuesday and sought his personal intervention in implementation of Ayushman Bharat- Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) in the state.
The delegation of BJP MPs comprising Basant Panda, Sangeeta Singhdeo and Nitesh Ganga Deb submitted a memorandum signed by Aprajita Sarangi, Pratap Chandra Sarangi and Suresh Pujari to Mandaviya in the presence of the Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
Appreciating the visionary foresight of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for launching the scheme on September 23, 2018, the delegation said the historic initiative envisages universal healthcare and provides a financial cover of Rs 5 lakh per family per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalisation to about 13.44 crore needy families or 65 crore individuals in India.
Under this scheme, a total of 1.96 crore hospital admissions worth Rs 24,315 crore have been authorised through a network of approximately 23,000 empanelled health care providers across the country.
The delegation also said the novel scheme, during the first and second wave of COVID-19, proved to be a lifesaver for countless Indians as testing and treatment were made available free of cost under the scheme.
Besides, this healthcare initiative was given another boost when the Prime Minister launched the National Digital Health Mission (NDHM) on August 15 last year with the concept of a Unique Healthcare ID (UHID) for every citizen as a nationwide unified digital repository of all health-related information of a person, which is especially useful for a sizable population of migrant workers.
Considering the benefits of the Central scheme, the delegation requested the Union Minister for his personal intervention by directing the Odisha government to take necessary actions to implement the scheme at the earliest ahead of the possible onset of the third wave.
