Cancer treatment in Odisha just got a significant upgrade — and for the state's most vulnerable patients, it could mean the difference between seeking care and going without. Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi announced on 6 August 2026 that his government has added 91 state-specific cancer treatment packages under the combined AB-PMJAY–GJAY scheme, pushing the total number of cancer packages to 545 and overall treatment packages to 2,254.

In his post, CM Majhi described the move as 'another big step by the people's government towards making cancer treatment in Odisha more affordable, quality-driven, and cashless.' Beneficiaries enrolled under the scheme can now access free, high-quality cancer care at empanelled hospitals across the state — with no out-of-pocket payment at the point of treatment.

What the 91 new packages actually cover

The Mukhyamantri Cancer Treatment Abhiyan — Odisha's dedicated cancer treatment campaign — sits at the heart of this expansion. The 91 newly added packages have been classified as state-specific, meaning they address procedures and care protocols that the central PMJAY framework did not previously cover for Odisha's patient population. With this addition, the cancer-care basket under the scheme is now among the most expansive in the country for a state-level programme.

The AB-PMJAY–GJAY combination merges the central Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana — launched nationally in 2018 with up to Rs 5 lakh annual health coverage per family — with Odisha's own Gopabandhu Jan Arogya Yojana. Together, they provide cashless secondary and tertiary care, and the state's decision to layer state-specific cancer packages on top of this foundation follows a broader national pattern: Indian states progressively customising PMJAY to plug gaps in non-communicable disease coverage.

Odisha's push for a 'Healthy Odisha'

CM Majhi framed the expansion explicitly within his government's 'Sushtha Odisha' — Sushtha Odisha (Healthy Odisha) — vision, pledging that these efforts will continue in the days ahead. Since taking office in June 2024, Majhi has positioned health infrastructure expansion as a signature priority, and this move aligns the state more tightly with the Centre's flagship health assurance architecture.

For cancer patients, the practical implication is direct: a wider menu of treatments — from diagnostics to chemotherapy protocols — now falls within the cashless umbrella at listed hospitals. The burden of catastrophic out-of-pocket health expenditure, which routinely pushes Indian families below the poverty line, is the precise problem this scheme targets.

Whether empanelled hospitals across Odisha's districts can absorb the expanded caseload without quality slippage will be the real test — and the metric worth watching as uptake data begins to emerge.