Bhubaneswar: The Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana has turned out to be a life-saver programme for Snehalata Sahu (52) of Naubanka village in Jajpur district who was suffering from blood cancer. She underwent a costly medical procedure recently at SUM Hospital in the city recently.
“My mother could be saved because of Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana. Given our financial condition, we never thought bone marrow transplantation was possible for us. Today, my mother is healthy and recovering well,” said Sumant Kumar Sahu, Snehalata’s son.
Sumant’s father ran a small eatery at the Singhipur haat. The family of five came under utter duress after Snehalata was diagnosed with the deadly disease. Unable to withstand the agony, the head of the family passed away in January 2021.
After the death of his father, all responsibilities were on Sumant now. “The world was all dark for him, as there was no money for food, let apart resources for mother’s treatment,” he said. With a small amount of borrowed money, he took his mother to Bhubaneswar for treatment at SUM Hospital.
“At the reception desk of the hospital, I spotted a dedicated counter for Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana (BSKY). I reached out to the Swasthya Karmis with a ray of hope for any form of help. Our lives changed as after that day, we did not have to spend any money for my mother’s treatment,” said Sumant.
Snehalata was under the treatment of Prof Priyanka Samal of the Haematology Department at the hospital and after a few rounds of chemotherapy, the doctors informed Sumant that his mother would need bone marrow transplantation.
“At that time, the BSKY (family) card had exhausted with expenses of Rs 5 lakh for my mother’s treatment. We were all very tense about saving our mother. However, at this stage, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik intervened and sanctioned the money to the hospital under BSKY,” said Sumant.
“With the timely assistance of our Chief Minister under the Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana, and proper medical care at the hospital, my mother got a new life. My family is indebted to the CM, doctors and nurses for all that they did to save my mother,” he added.
