YSR Congress party president and former Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy on Wednesday vehemently opposed the alleged privatisation of medical education by the Telugu Desam Party-led coalition government in the name of public-private partnership.
Speaking to reporters at the party office in Tadepalli, Jagan said during the previous YSRCP regime, his government had planned to set up one medical college in every district and initiated the process of setting up 17 medical colleges.
“Of them, five medical colleges started functioning and five others were near completion with all permissions and land acquisitions in place along with financial aid. We planned each of them to be constructed in 50 acres at a cost of ₹500 crore,” he said.
He alleged that the Naidu government was now giving away medical colleges on a platter to private players for kickbacks in the name of PPP mode. “We shall fight tooth and nail against the move, which will badly affect the medicare system as private hospitals will exploit the poor,” he said.
Jagan said during his tenure, the public health system was so impeccably tuned with the establishment of village clinics enabling the poorer sections access to medical care. “But Naidu has been trying to reverse the system to benefit his favoured people. Aarogyasri and Aarogya Asara have been neglected and all the welfare schemes started by our government were wilfully abandoned,” he alleged.
{{/usCountry}}Jagan said during his tenure, the public health system was so impeccably tuned with the establishment of village clinics enabling the poorer sections access to medical care. “But Naidu has been trying to reverse the system to benefit his favoured people. Aarogyasri and Aarogya Asara have been neglected and all the welfare schemes started by our government were wilfully abandoned,” he alleged.
{{/usCountry}}The YSRCP chief described the “super six” guarantees of the coalition government as super flop, as the poll promises were not fulfilled and people were cheated. He said the Naidu government had raised ₹2 lakh crore loans in the last 15 months and wondered into whose pockets had these loans gone.
Jagan questioned why farmers were facing the problem of urea and other fertilizers now like never before and were standing in serpentine queues to buy urea. “This government has no sincerity. The allotted urea is being diverted by the TDP leaders and middlemen and sold at double the rate in black market,” he alleged.
“When we were in power, we had set up a ₹3,000 crore Price Stabilization Fund and came to the rescue of farmers whenever there were price fluctuations. Now, Chandrababu Naidu and his coterie are involved in a ₹200 to 300 crore scam at the cost of farmers’ interest,” he alleged.
Refuting the allegations levelled by Jagan on the privatisation of medical education in the state, chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu said the YSRCP chief had, in fact, no role in establishing medical colleges in the state.
“It was the NDA and TDP governments that prioritized education and set up institutions, while Jagan only engaged in publicity by laying foundations and cutting ribbons,” he said.
Naidu explained that through the PPP model, assets would remain with the state while the colleges would be run responsibly by private partners. The model would bring four new colleges by 2026–27 and seven more by 2027–28, he said.