As Odisha health minister, Naba Kishore Das remained at forefront of Covid fight

BHUBANESWAR: Naba Kishore Das as health minister was at the forefront of state’s fight against Covid-19 pandemic and played a key role in the implementation of state’s flagship health coverage scheme -- Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana (BSKY).

Describing him as an asset for both the government and the party, chief minister Naveen Patnaik said, “He has successfully carried many initiatives in the health department to the benefit of the people.”
Health secretary Shalini Pandit said Naba was a strong team leader dedicated to development of health systems in the state.“His loss is deeply mourned by the health team,” she said.
Considered a high-performer, Naba has been a key lieutenant of Naveen Patnaik in the health sector initiatives.

In early days of the pandemic, Naba led the massive information, education and communication activities for safety of the elderly and those with chronic ailments and in implementing social distancing norms. By religiously sticking to covid appropriate behaviours, he led by example, a senior government functionary said.
In September 2020, an article published on WHO website, ‘From governance to community resilience: Odisha’s response to Covid-19,’ praised the effective governance and community-based strategies in the state, saying the same helped keep its case load low.

Naba has been very vocal in defending state government decision not to implement Centre’s Ayushman Bharat and opting for its own BSKY. He had maintained that the reason why Naveen launched BSKY was to ensure universal healthcare, for which Ayushman Bharat was no match. While BSKY covers 96 lakh families, the Ayushman Bharat would have covered around 61 lakh, he said.
Senior BJD leader Prasanna Acharya, himself a former health minister, said Naba was very determined to achieve the goals he was convinced and always worked very hard to make healthcare accessible to all.
Naba was pursuing hard for 100-bed super speciality hospital with special focus on heart care on public private partnership in his hometown Jharsuguda.