BJP MPs urge Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya to implement Ayushman Bharat in Odisha

New Delhi [India], December 15 (ANI): Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MPs from Odisha, including Union Ministers Dharmendra Pradhan and Ashwini Vaishnaw on Thursday, called on Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya and urged him to take the required steps for implementation of the Ayushman Bharat- Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY) in the state as soon as possible.
Taking to Twitter, Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said that almost all the states implemented the scheme and are not indulging in "politics", but Odisha is yet to implement it.
"For the welfare of the people, almost all the states of the country have implemented this scheme above the politics, but it is worrying that Odisha is not implementing it. About 4.5 crore brothers and sisters of Odisha, including about 1 crore people who are working outside Odisha, are missing out on the benefits of the Ayushman Bharat Yojana," Pradhan wrote in his tweet.
Pradhan further said that the visionary Ayushman Yojana of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has a provision to provide medical services up to Rs 5 lakh per family per annum.
So far, 30 of 33 states have agreed to the co-branding plan except for Delhi, Odisha, and West Bengal which have opted to remain out of it.
PMJAY, launched on September 23 in 2018 gives an annual health cover of Rs 5 lakh to eligible families.
Accusing the central government of taking all the credit for it, West Bengal pulled out of the scheme in 2019.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had said she would be willing to rejoin if the Centre funded the scheme fully.
The Union Health Ministry recently said that the National Health Authority -- the administrative authority for the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY), the tertiary care arm of Ayushman Bharat (AB) has decided to bring greater integrity and uniformity into the beneficiary cards issued under the scheme by re-christening them under a common name, 'Ayushman cards'.
The minister who met with Mansukh Mandaviya also highlighted Odisha's deterioration in State Health Index. (ANI)