By Bizodisha Bureau, Bhubaneswar, December 14, 2021: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has inaugurated and laid the foundation stone of projects worth Rs 2,500 crore.

Patnaik unveiled the projects while launching the distribution of smart health cards under the Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana (BSKY) to beneficiaries in Cuttack and Khurda districts on Monday.

Patnaik said 18 lakh people will benefit from the smart health cards in Cuttack, while about 14 lakh people in Khurda district will get health coverage under this scheme.

The facility has so far been implemented in 26 of the 30 districts of the state.

Addressing a function at Cuttack, Patnaik said the initiative would benefit the poor and needy in a big way.

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.

He said efforts are on to develop SCB Medical College and Hospital into an ‘AIIMS Plus’ institute and hoped the premier hospital will soon prove to be a milestone in the country’s healthcare sector.

Patnaik 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 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.

At a programme at Begunia in Khurda district, the Chief Minister praised women members of ‘Mission Shakti’ for their ‘excellent job in taking forward activities of women self-help groups’.