Bhubaneswar: A group of BJP members of parliament (MPs) met Mansukh Mandaviya, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare, on Thursday and demanded the latter’s personal intervention for implementation of Ayushman Bharat – Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (ABPMJAY) in Odisha.
The MPs who petitioned to Mandaviya included Dharmendra Pradhan, Union Minister for Education, Ashwin Vaishnav, and Bisweshwar Tudu, Union Minister of State for Tribal Welfare and Jal Shakti department. The other signatory MPs are Aparajita Sarangi, Pratap Sarangi, Suresh Pujari and Pramila Bisoyi.
In their memorandum to Mandaviya, the MPs from Odisha pointed out that almost all the states in the country irrespective of political parties are utilising the Central government’s health scheme for the benefit the people, but Odisha and few others are still denying the benefits of this health scheme to the citizens. The dwindling healthcare scenario of Odisha coupled with absence of AB-PMJAY is a major bane for people living in the state.
The MPs further stated that Odisha was ranked 14th for overall health performance among 19 large states in 2019-20, which is lower than states like Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh. “Odisha recorded deterioration in the State Health Index and based on the overall incremental performance, Odisha has been categorised as one of the least improved states. Since 2014, Odisha has been one of the worst performers in neonatal mortality rate, maternal mortality, anemia among adolescents and women and child nourishment,” the memorandum read.
Furthermore, the universal health coverage in Odisha remains sporadic because of inequitable distribution of medical resource across the state. Poor rural healthcare infrastructure, gaping holes in medical and paramedic staff positioning, and access to diagnostics facilities remain major challenges in accessing healthcare services. The Rural Health Statistics 2021 reveals that doctor vacancies in PHCs stand close to 31%. Acute shortage of medical staff and those in administrative position are languishing in the state. Per capita availability of doctors and hospital bed are also one of the lowest in the country, the MPs told Mandaviya.
According to the BJP leaders from Odisha, the State Health Insurance Scheme of Odisha government has its limitation to cater to the tertiary healthcare needs of Odia
people as it doesn’t have a pan India portability/admissibility, enough number of impaneled hospitals, robust and fraud free claim settlement process. Despite having the State Health Insurance Scheme, most of the patients are refused admissions to private hospitals even in the state citing non-availability of bed.
“The existing medical facilities in Odisha are not fully equipped to cater to tertiary medical needs of 4.5 crore population of Odisha. Barring the government MCH at Cuttack and few private hospitals in Cuttack and Bhubaneswar, majority of Odia people travel to Kolkata, Vellore, Mumbai, Vizag and Delhi for better treatment, they said.
