Bhubaneswar: The Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana – Gopabandhu Jan Arogya Yojana has given a new lease of life to a two-and-a-half-year-old girl from the remote Bhitarkanika region of Kendrapara district.
The child, Divyashree of Dangamala village in Rajnagar block, has fully recovered from a rare and life-threatening liver tumour after receiving cashless treatment under the scheme—bringing immense relief to her family and joy to her entire village.
The child’s father, Bijay Sahu, a small farmer who depends on farming and fishing for income, struggled as his daughter’s health deteriorated with severe abdominal pain, persistent fever and rapid weight loss. After months of unsuccessful treatment attempts, the family brought her to KIMS Hospital in Bhubaneswar, where specialists diagnosed her with hepatoblastoma—a rare paediatric liver cancer that had already begun spreading to her lungs.
Under the supervision of paediatric haematologist-oncologist Dr. Prakash Dash, KIMS formed a multidisciplinary team of nearly 50 senior doctors from seven departments. The team carried out an extremely complex Trans-Arterial Chemo-Embolization (TACE) procedure followed by an extended liver resection—an exceptionally rare treatment protocol for a child of her age.
Thanks to the coordinated effort and the financial coverage provided by the scheme, treatment worth ₹2.14 lakh was delivered completely free of cost. Within a month of admission, Divyashree recovered fully and was discharged on September 16. Her follow-up check-up has confirmed that she is now healthy, active and playful.
Her mother, Anima Sahu, expressed deep gratitude: “If we didn’t have the Ayushman card, we would have lost our daughter. I thank Prime Minister Modi and Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi for this scheme.”
Divyashree’s story is one among many. Since the unified rollout of Ayushman Bharat and Gopabandhu Jan Arogya Yojana in Odisha in April, more than one lakh beneficiaries have availed cashless treatment worth about ₹2,271 crore on nearly 8.25 lakh occasions across empanelled hospitals nationwide. Of these, around 7.76 lakh treatments were provided within Odisha and nearly 49,000 in hospitals outside the state.
Under the combined scheme, each family member receives an individual card, enabling beneficiaries—even those residing outside Odisha—to access cashless healthcare at the nearest empanelled facility.
