The Business Bytes
THEBUSINESSBYTES BUREAU
BHUBANESWAR, APRIL 11, 2025
In a significant political and public health development, Union Health Minister J P Nadda launched the Ayushman Bharat Yojana in Odisha on Friday, marking a major milestone in the Centre’s push for nationwide implementation of its flagship healthcare scheme. The launch came nearly ten months after the BJP assumed power in the state, ending years of resistance under the previous BJD government. With Odisha and Delhi now on board, West Bengal remains the last major holdout—an issue Nadda addressed with clear political intent, expressing optimism that the scheme would soon benefit the people of Bengal as well.
Nadda underscored that the scheme’s implementation in Odisha and Delhi followed political transitions, implying that similar change in Bengal could bring the Centre’s welfare initiatives to the state. He recalled his earlier attempts, as Union Health Minister, to convince former Chief Ministers Naveen Patnaik and Arvind Kejriwal to adopt the scheme. Both had rejected it, citing the adequacy of their respective state-run health programmes. However, Nadda maintained that such refusals came at a cost, with the people ultimately rejecting those governments for withholding critical healthcare benefits.
Launched in 2018 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Ayushman Bharat Yojana is hailed as the world’s largest government healthcare programme, offering annual coverage of ₹5 lakh per family. According to Nadda, more than 61 crore Indians are already reaping the benefits, with the Centre having spent ₹1.26 lakh crore over the past six years to finance treatments for the underprivileged. He called the launch in Odisha a “historic day,” revealing that 3.51 crore people across 1.03 lakh families in the state are now eligible for coverage under Ayushman Bharat, Ayushman Vaya-Vandana Yojana, and the state-run Gopabandhu Jan Arogya Yojana (GJAY).
Each family member will receive individual cards, enabling them to access healthcare at more than 30,000 government and private hospitals across India. Nadda particularly emphasized the benefit to Odia workers living outside the state — in cities like Delhi, Mumbai, and Chennai — who will now be able to avail treatment under the scheme.
Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, who shared the stage with Nadda, strongly criticized the previous BJD administration for denying the people of Odisha access to the scheme for “political reasons.” He said that the “double engine” BJP government, with its alignment at both the state and central levels, has made swift strides in correcting past delays. Majhi announced that within ten months of taking office, the government had filled 4,000 healthcare positions, including doctors, and revealed plans to recruit an additional 5,374 doctors and dentists soon.
Highlighting the state’s renewed focus on medical education, the Chief Minister stated that Odisha currently has 12 operational medical colleges, with two more set to open shortly. Budgetary provisions have also been made for new medical colleges in Bhadrak, Jagatsinghpur, Nabarangpur, and Dhenkanal, alongside plans for four dental colleges.
With the Ayushman Bharat scheme now activated in Odisha, the political message was clear: healthcare, development, and electoral momentum are tightly interwoven, and West Bengal is next in line for both policy rollout and political challenge.
