New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi slammed the previous BJD Government for not allowing implementation of Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana in Odisha. For which, the people of the State were deprived of the benefit till today, he said.
The BJP-led State government today signed the MoU with the National Health Authority, Government of India, for rolling out the Ayushman Bharat scheme in Odisha.
The Prime Minister has congratulated the people of Odisha for the MoU and said the scheme will ensure the highest-quality healthcare at affordable rates.
Replying to a post on X by Chief Minister of Odisha, Mohan Charan Majhi, the Prime Minister posted: “Congratulations to the people of Odisha! It was indeed a travesty that my sisters and brothers of Odisha were denied the benefits of Ayushman Bharat by the previous Government. This scheme will ensure the highest-quality healthcare at affordable rates. It will particularly benefit the Nari Shakti and the elderly of Odisha.”
Not only the PM, but also senior BJP leader and Union Health Minister J P Nadda too criticized the previous BJD government for not implementing the central scheme in the state for its personal ego.
“The darkness has gone and Odisha joined the Ayushman Bharat scheme after a BJP government was formed in the State. Earlier, the previous BJD government had rejected the Centre’s offer only on political consideration and ego,” he alleged.
Shri Nadda said that people need to understand that there is a grey area between darkness and light.
“This grey area is always very very problematic. We should be crystal clear, between day and night, between light and darkness and between development and status co…. This is a historic day. I cannot speak more on that, this is an indication,” he said.
The Centre had told the BJD Government several times that many people from the state work in other parts of the country and do not get health insurance facilities, he said.
“We believe in cooperative federalism, but the ‘ego’ of the then government came on the way. Today, we have reached the point where Odisha could be included. Days are not far when Delhi will also be included under the Ayushman Bharat,” Shri Nadda said.