Bhubaneswar: The state government on Monday cleared the air on its opposition to the Centre's Ayushman Bharat-National Health Protection Scheme (NHPC) and its resolve to go ahead with its Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana (BSKY), a health assurance scheme.

To clarify the government's position on the row, chief minister Naveen Patnaik's letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the issue was released here on Monday.

"The dependence of NHPC on socio-economic caste census (SECC) data will be a serious handicap in achieving the universal coverage. As you will agree, the SECC survey done on the criteria fixed by the UPA government has grave lacuna and many genuine poor have been left out," the letter said. The SECC survey was held in 2011.

The letter said: "Due to this reason, whenever our state has implemented any programme, we have gone for near universal coverage, as in schemes like Mamata, Rural Housing, State pension for Old Age and also National Food Security Act (NFSA)."

Naveen said: "About 40 lakh people (8 lakh families) who are already covered under the health assistance schemes of our state will be left out if we take SECC data as a base."

While NHPC aims to cover 62 lakh families, the BSKY claims to cover 70 lakh families in the state.

The chief minister in his letter said that the state had put forth its concern regarding genuine beneficiaries being left out, but the chief executive officer of the Pradhanmantri Rastriya Surakhsya Mission (PMRSSM) had informed that it was not possible to go beyond the ambit of SECC data.

"Our state has a mandate of providing near universal health coverage. In view of the same our government has announced a health assurance scheme which will cover nearly 70 lakh families of the state. However, we will be willing to consider joining NHPC in due course if the concerns of the state are addressed adequately," said Naveen.

Though Odisha did not attend the meeting of the Niti Aayog, Naveen in his letter mentioned various demands of the state including special category status for Odisha and a national loan waiver policy.

Besides demanding increase in the minimum support price for crops, he also argued for creation of a credit guarantee trust for agriculture on the lines of credit guarantee trust for micro and small enterprises.

Though the chief minister's letter remained silent on his government's opposition to the Niti Aayog's suggestion not to replace district collectors at regular intervals, the BJD has opposed it.

BJD spokesperson P.K. Deb said: "We will not accept such proposals. In the internal administration of a state, the Centre has no role. If you want to do this through Niti Aayog, it will be considered interference in the state's administration. This is against the spirit of the federalism."

State Congress chief Niranajan Patnaik said: "Appointing officers is state's responsibility. We don't want politicisation of the issue."

Union petroleum minister Dharmandra Pradhan said: "If district collectors are appointed for long periods from three five year, they will be able to chalk out detailed plans for the development of the state."