Bhubaneswar: Union health Minister JP Nadda today launched Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) in Odisha at an event in Cuttack city.

The health coverage scheme will be implemented alongside Odisha government’s Gopabandhu Jan Arogya Yojana (GJAY) in the state.

Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, Union Tribal Affairs Minister Jual Oram, Deputy Chief Ministers KV Singh Deo and Pravati Parida, and Health Minister Mukesh Mahaling among others were present on the occasion at Bali Jatra ground in Cuttack.

The state government had earlier inked an MoU with the Centre for the integration of AB-PMJAY with the GJAY of Odisha.

With this integration, around 3.52 crore people of 1.08 crore families in the state will be covered under the combined scheme, likely to be named Ayushman Bharat-Gopabandhu Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-GJAY). 

The combined scheme will provide health cover of Rs 5 lakh per family per annuum with an additional Rs 5 lakh for women members.   

 The beneficiaries can avail cashless treatment at more than 29,000 government and private empanelled hospitals across the country.

As per the guidelines, every member of the beneficiary families will be provided with individual health card.

In addition to this, senior citizens aged above 70 will get free treatment under the Ayushman Vay Vandana scheme.

Notably, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government at the Centre had launched the AB-PMJAY scheme in 2018.

However, the previous Biju Janata Dal (BJD) government in Odisha was reluctant to implement the centrally-sponsored health coverage scheme in the state.

The BJD government had then claimed that its Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana (BSKY) was much better than the AB-PMJAY.

Soon after coming into power in Odisha, the BJP government has renamed the BSKY as GJAY and took step for implementation of AB-PMJAY in the state.