Rahul vows affordable healthcare for all

Bargarh: After promising minimum income guarantee for the unemployed youths recently, Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Friday pledged a minimum healthcare guarantee for all, if voted to power at the Centre.
Addressing a gathering of around 25,000 people at Nua Sarsara village in Odisha’s Bargarh district, Rahul said the Congress plans to enact the Right to Healthcare Act in the country. “Congress will ensure affordable healthcare for all through the Act and also ensure higher education for the people in the country,” he said.

Odisha Congress president Niranjan Patnaik too promised to open a cancer hospital in Bargarh on the occasion.

“We will appoint more doctors and spend more on improving the healthcare system and education after forming the government at the Centre,” Rahul said. During his visit to Koraput district on March 8, he had promised free technical education for girls in Odisha.

Rahul’s healthcare guarantee comes in the wake of the state and Centre sparring over their own healthcare schemes launched a few months ago. Chief minister Naveen Panaik launched Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana (BSKY) on August 15, 2018 out of the state’s own funds while the Centre’s ambitious Ayushman Bharat was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 23, 2018.

Apart from wooing farmers by promising them loan waiver, better price on paddy, financial assistance, food processing units and better market linkage, Rahul launched scathing attacks on Naveen and Modi for allegedly creating an agrarian crisis in Odisha and other states. “Bargarh is called the rice bowl of the state. But farmers continue to commit suicide here and in other parts of the state and the country. While farmers are denied financial and banking benefits, several top industrialists were allowed to flee abroad after looting lakhs of crores of rupees from banks. Support Congress and give us votes so that we will bring development in Odisha and country,” Rahul said.

Taking a dig at Naveen for the alleged involvement of many of his leaders in multi-hundred crore chit fund and mining scams in Odisha, Rahul said, “I promise you that the Congress will take stringent action against the culprits after forming the government in Odisha.” Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel, who accompanied Rahul to Bargarh, urged the people to root out the BJD government in the state and the BJP at the Centre.

This was Gandhi’s first visit to Odisha after the announcement of the election schedule. He had earlier visited Bhubaneswar on January 25, Bhawanipatna and Rourkela on February 6 and Koraput on March 8 to bolster the poll prospects of the Congress, which has been out of power in the state since 2000.

Both the BJD and BJP hit back at Congress. “People, including farmers in the state, will keep blessing the Naveen Patnaik-led government because of his pro-farmer and other welfare measures. Congress can only make false promises,” BJD leader and labour minister Susanta Singh said. BJP leader Samir Mohanty slammed Congress and BJD and expressed confidence of BJP’s return to power in Odisha.