Odisha Govt Issues Guidelines On BSKY To Protect Beneficiaries From Exploitation

Bhubaneswar: In order to protect the beneficiaries of its Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana (BSKY) from exploitation by “nefarious elements”, the Odisha government has issued a set of regulations on the health scheme to be followed by all stakeholders.

In a letter to all district collectors, SPs, municipal commissioners, and DCP, Bhubaneswar-Cuttack on Tuesday, Shalini Pandit, secretary, Health and Family Welfare department, said BSKY aims at providing universal health coverage with special emphasis on the health protection of economically vulnerable families and women.

She further said under the scheme, 96.5 lakh families of Odisha having NFSA/SFSS card are provided with BSKY annual health coverage of Rs 5 lakh per family and additional Rs 5 lakh for the women members of the family at empanelled private hospitals.

In view of recent incidents of exploitation of beneficiaries by nefarious elements, the department directed the officers to sensitise the field workers and beneficiaries on the following points:

• BSKY Smart Health Card once issued to a beneficiary does not require renewal, as it is auto renewed annually through BSKY IT platform.
• The beneficiary does not have to pay anyone or go to any office for renewal of the card as the same is auto renewed by the IT platform at the back-end.
• All NFSA/SFSS beneficiaries having valid ration card can avail benefit under BSKY at empanelled private hospital, without BSKY card.
• Recharge of the balance in the card is also done automatically on September 1 every year through BSKY IT platform

The officers were directed to make the beneficiaries and field workers aware of these facts so that the beneficiaries are not exploited by nefarious elements in the name of renewal of BSKY card and recharge of balance in the card.