Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Birth Soil Yatra national convenor Debiprasad Prusti thanked CM Naveen Patnaik for launching the Smart Health Card scheme for the poor people and urged the CM to extend the facility for all sections of people of the State.
Citizens irrespective of income level should be included in the scheme and get the benefit, said Prusti. Now one crore people are debarred from getting this facility just because they dont fall in the food security scheme. But about 90 lakh people among the one crore do not have the capacity to spend even a lakh in a year for critical treatments, Prusti noted. The employees of private offices and those who are self employed doing a small business are kept outside the scheme.
They would be worst sufferers, he told. In Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee has implemented Swasthya Sathi Card for all nine crore people irrespective of their income.
It is most unfortunate to debar 26 per cent population for no fault of theirs in Odisha. Those who have health insurance and other allied coverages will voluntarily give up Government benefit if included in the scheme, he remarked.
He demanded that the CM make a modified declaration and advertise the same in public domain in the earliest for larger interest of the State.