BHUBANESWAR: The BJP and the BJD on Sunday locked horns over Odisha’s decision not to implement Centre’s flagship health scheme Ayushman Bharat and instead roll out its own Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana (BSKY) from August 15.While Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan termed the Naveen dispensation decision as purely political and against the state’s interest, BJD spokesperson and Rajya Sabha member Pratap Keshari Deb justified the state move saying the Central scheme has terms and conditions which would be difficult to fulfil, depriving poor people from availing the promised benefits.Addressing a news conference here, Dharmendra said politics should be kept aside while considering welfare issues of poor people. They will be deprived of benefits of the central scheme with the Naveen government’s decision, he said.If Ayushman Bharat is implemented, people from Odisha who migrate to other states in search of works can avail free health benefits at their workplace with their cards. Many people from Odisha also go to outside state hospitals for better treatment. They can avail free healthcare there. “I don’t understand what the point of contention is. The central scheme is not named after anyone. That may have pained Naveen,” Dharmendra sarcastically said.The BJD termed Biju scheme better than ‘Modicare’. Speaking to reporters, Pratap Keshari Deb said the Naveen government has only fulfilled its promise of a universal healthcare scheme, made in the election manifesto in 2014 by announcing BSKY, which assures annual healthcare assistance up to Rs 5 lakh to around 70 lakh families.Odisha has three main objections to ‘Modicare’. The Ayushman Bharat would benefit only 61 lakh families, identified in Socio Economic and Caste Census 2011, depriving nine lakh families. The chief secretary (AP Padhi) had requested the Centre not to exclude the nine lakhs, which the Centre didn’t concede, Deb said.Odisha had requested the Centre to keep hospitals up to district level outside the scope of Ayushman Bharat because these provide free healthcare, which the Centre did not concede. This would mean poor families who would not be able to pay the insurance premium would be deprived from availing free healthcare benefits. Moreover, the beneficiaries of Ayushman Bharat would be identified through their Aadhaar numbers, depriving those not having Aadhar, he said.The BJD spokesperson said the way the UPA II government rolled out the Food Security Act in 2013 in the run up to the 2014 general elections, the NDA II government is trying to push for the health scheme when a few months are left for the 2019 elections. It would be difficult to implement in such short time, he said.

Stay updated with all the Latest Bhubaneswar headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.