NEW DELHI: Prime Minister
Narendra Modi on Saturday asked Odisha Chief Minister
Naveen Patnaik to link the people of the state with the Ayushman Bharat health insurance scheme.
"I urge Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik to link people of state with Ayushman Bharat scheme to be launched on Sunday," PM Modi said while addressing a public meeting after launching commencement of work for the country's first coal gassification-based fertiliser plant at
Talcher.
The scheme provides Rs 5 lakh health insurance to the people.
Under the Ayushman Bharat Yojana, 10 crore poor households in the country will be given health assurance of up to Rs 5 lakh throughout the year for treatment of serious illnesses.
On his one-day visit to Odisha, PM Modi laid the foundation stone for the country's first
coal gasification based fertiliser plant at Talcher in the
Angul district. The plant will ensure easy availability of
urea in Odisha as there is no urea plant in the state.
Referring to former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi's famous assertion that only 15 paisa out of a Rupee sanctioned by the Centre for welfare of people reaches beneficiaries, PM Modi said, "They knew about the 'bimari'(illness) but had no vision to solve it."
The BJP government's decision to directly transfer money to bank accounts of beneficiaries has done away with the practise of middlemen in implementation of any welfare scheme, he said.
Pointing towards the overwhelming gathering of people at the rally, PM Modi said it "clearly showed" what the people of Odisha are thinking.
(With inputs from agencies)
