History has been made on August 15, 2021, when our beloved Chief Minister Shri Naveen Patnaik announced the ‘Smart Health Card’ system in Odisha under the Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana. Around 3.5 crore individuals in the state under the Beneficiaries of national and state food security schemes, as well as Annapurna and Antyodaya projects, would receive cards allowing a to receive treatment worth up to Rs 5 lakh individually. Once that’s absorbed, the women members of the family can get treatment worth up to another Rs 5 lakh.
Odisha is the first state in the country to issue such smart health cards. It will cover 3.5 crore people in 92.5 lakh families in phases.
As our CM said, the initiative will usher in a new era throughout the state’s healthcare sector.
Around 200 hospitals have been approved under the plan, with almost 17 hospitals located outside of Odisha for people of the state who live elsewhere. Each recipient home will get two chip cards with the beneficiary’s name and a 12-digit unique number. With the maximum benefit limit, the card will be valid for a year. After a year, it will be automatically renewed.
People cutting across the political inclination, have hailed CM Naveen Patnaik for his visionary initiative that would give a new ray of hope to the poor and needy. Our CM was in pain to see people selling their land, jewelry, assets, and houses to get proper treatment. That’s the reason he wanted to launch this initiative so that nobody is deprived of required treatment facilities when the need arises.
