Pandian dares BJP to scrap BSKY if it comes to power

Bhubaneswar: The Biju Janata Dal leader, V K Pandian, on Wednesday dared the BJP to announce that the State government’s flagship ‘Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana’ would be scrapped if the saffron party came to power in Odisha, days after a Union minister criticised the scheme.

Senior BJP leader and Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan had recently spoken against the health scheme during a public meeting in Sambalpur. Pradhan had reportedly said that people in Odisha were inconvenienced due to the scheme, and they were unable to avail of benefits under the Centre’s Ayushman Bharat programme.

He had also alleged that a lot of money was spent in advertising the BSKY instead of actually extending help to the needy. Without taking any name, Pandian said: “If the Union minister thinks that BSKY is of no use, he can announce in the BJP poll manifesto that the scheme would be scrapped if the party comes to power. If you have the courage, make it the number one agenda in the manifesto.” The bureaucrat-turned-politician also said the minister should see the response of the poor to know “how useful the scheme is in Odisha”.