Bhubaneswar, November 7:The Odisha Government has reopened the online application portal for the Gopabandhu Sambadika Swasthya Bima Yojana (GSSBY) for the 2026-27 financial year, inviting fresh applications from eligible working journalists.

According to a notification issued by the Information and Public Relations (I&PR) Department, the application window will remain open from November 9 to November 30, 2026.

Working journalists who have not been enrolled under the health insurance scheme previously can submit their applications online through the Odisha Working Journalists Welfare Scheme (OWJWS) portal at https://owjws.odisha.gov.in.

The Department has instructed all District Information and Public Relations Officers (DIPROs) to scrutinise and verify the applications between December 1 and December 10. The verification process must be carried out with the approval or recommendation of the respective District Administration before the applications are forwarded to the I&PR Department for further action.

To prevent duplicate enrolments, DIPROs have also been directed to collect the final district-wise list of journalists covered under GSSBY for 2026-27, along with details of health insurance cards issued by the concerned Third-Party Administrators (TPAs). The information will be used to cross-check newly submitted applications.

The Department has clarified that only eligible working journalists who have not previously been covered under the scheme will be considered for fresh enrolment.

Eligible journalists are advised to complete the online application process by November 30, 2026.