Odisha Govt Has No Other Option But To Accept Ayushman Bharat: Niranjan

Bhubaneswar: Senior Congress leader and president of the Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) Niranjan Patnaik on Thursday said that the Odisha government has no option other than accepting the central health scheme Ayushman Bharat.

To a question on why the BJD, which had bluntly refused to accept the Ayushman Bharat before the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in the state, has now changed its stance in favour of the central scheme, he said the only reason why the ruling party had earlier refused was to gain political mileage. “The intention of the party was to give an impression to the people that its own health scheme, Biju Swaysthya Kalyan Yojana (BSKY) is better than Ayushman Bharat,” he said.

The OPCC chief also felt that the state government will accept the central scheme as the Chief Minister is trying to get closer to the Prime Minister.

“Besides, the severe financial crunch faced by the state government could be another reason,” Niranjan said.