India News | Patnaik Launches Smart Health Card Distribution in Cuttack, Khurda Districts
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. Bhubaneswar/ Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik Monday inaugurated and laid the foundation stone of projects worth Rs 2,500 crore while launching the distribution of smart health cards under the Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana (BSKY) to beneficiaries in Cuttack and Khurda districts.
Bhubaneswar/Cuttack, Dec 13 (PTI) Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik Monday inaugurated and laid the foundation stone of projects worth Rs 2,500 crore while launching the distribution of smart health cards under the Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana (BSKY) to beneficiaries in Cuttack and Khurda districts.
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While 18 lakh people in benefit will benefit from the smart health cards in Cuttack, about 14 lakh people in Khurda district will get health coverage under this scheme, the chief minister said.
So far the facility has been implemented in 26 of the 30 districts of the state.
Addressing a function at Cuttack Baliyatra Padia, Patnaik said the initiative would greatly benefit the poor and needy in the state.
He said 3.5 crore people belonging to 96 lakh families in the state would receive the benefits of the smart health card.
Now people can get treatment without any hassle at 200 major hospitals in the country by holding a piece of paper, the chief minister said.
Pointing out that efforts are on to develop SCB Medical College and Hospital into an ‘AIIMS Plus' institute, the chief minister expressed hope that the premier hospital will soon prove to be a milestone in the country's healthcare sector in the coming days.
He also announced that Biswanath Pandit Central Library, which was demolished at Khannagar here during an eviction drive for construction of a bus terminal, would be relocated near the Puri-Anugul bus stand and built as a state-of-the-art library.
The library has been temporarily shifted to Odisha Administrative Tribunal (OAT) near Judicial Academy.
An elaborate security arrangement was made in Cuttack district keeping in view the possibility of opposition parties staging protests demanding the removal and arrest of Minister of State for Home, DS Mishra in connection with the Kalahandi woman teacher's kidnap-murder case.
A total of 15 platoons of police force led by DCP Prateek Singh were deployed.
Ahead of Patnaik's arrival in Cuttack, BJP Yuva Morcha members staged a demonstration in the Buxi Bazar area holding placards and waving black flags.
They also displayed banners reading “CM Go Back”.
The police detained around 20 protestors, including BJP's Cuttack Nagar president Lalatendu Badu and Minority Morcha president Sikandar Ali.
Congress MLA from Barabati-Cuttack, Mohammed Moquim, staged a dharna during the chief minister's visit. He sat on a dharna near the Mahatma Gandhi statue near Puri Ghat.
“The CM is travelling everywhere but he does not attend the Assembly to discuss matters of public interest,” he said.
Attending a programme at Begunia in Khurda district, Patnaik praised women members of ‘Mission Shakti' for their “excellent job in taking forward activities of women self-help groups”.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)