Jagan Reddy Slams Andhra Government Plan to Privatize Medical Colleges

YSRCP chief YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has strongly opposed the Andhra Pradesh government's PPP model for medical colleges, terming it a scam that exploits public assets and undermines free healthcare for the poor in the state.

YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) chief YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Wednesday strongly opposed the Andhra Pradesh government's proposed move to hand over government medical colleges to private players under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model, alleging that the move amounted to a "massive scam" involving public assets.

In a post shared on X, Reddy accused Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu of handing over government medical colleges, which provide free treatment to the poor, to private players despite the infrastructure being developed with public funds. "@ncbn garu, you are handing over government medical colleges, which provide free treatment to the poor, to private players in the name of the PPP model. These colleges are public assets, and your plan amounts to a massive scam," he said.

Opposition to the PPP Model

Our government established 17 new medical colleges. We opened five and prepared another three to begin classes. The remaining nine could also be completed by investing Rs. 1,000 crore a year. Why are you not doing that? Doesn’t your PPP plan make it clear that this is a well-planned scam?

You are selling off colleges that are already complete and those at various stages of construction. Land worth hundreds of crores is being leased for just Rs. 100 an acre. More than half of the medical seats could be sold at private rates. Rs. 1,630 crore in public money is being given to these colleges in the name of Viability Gap Funding (VGF). The government will also pay the salaries of doctors, professors and staff for two years.

Allegations of Financial Mismanagement

What is this, if not exploitation? The cost would be Rs. 5 crore a month, or Rs. 120 crore over two years for each college. The land belongs to the government. The buildings are being constructed with government funds. The VGF will also come from public money. The government will even pay the staff salaries. If this is not a scam carried out in the name of private institutions, then what is it?

All the colleges we established are teaching hospitals. They would provide quality, free multispecialty treatment to the poor. Half the seats would be filled through the convenor quota. The remaining seats would also be available at fees far lower than those charged by private colleges. We had developed a strong model to ensure that the revenue generated would help run these colleges without financial difficulty. We had also worked with banks to arrange the required funding.

These are teaching hospitals. The professors working there and the medical and nursing students studying there would also take part in providing healthcare services. This would make the colleges viable to operate. With such arrangements already in place, why is there any need to sell them under the cover of a PPP model?

Concerns Over Public Healthcare

These medical colleges would also be connected to area hospitals, Community Health Centres (CHCs), Primary Health Centres (PHCs) and village clinics in their respective districts. Together, they could form a network that provides quality multispecialty care down to the village level. As the quality of government healthcare improves, private hospitals would also have to provide treatment at affordable prices. Isn’t it unjust to sell off colleges that can deliver all these benefits?

Chandrababu garu, your government has already weakened the public healthcare system. You have undermined Aarogyasri, which provides free treatment worth up to Rs. 25 lakh. Payments due to network hospitals have been delayed, and bonds have been issued in place of payments. Even after that, Rs. 3,000 crore remains unpaid. As a result, network hospitals are staying away from Aarogyasri services.

Our government supplied medicines that met GMP and WHO standards. Now, government hospitals lack even basic medicines and cotton. Government hospitals across the country face a 61% shortage of specialist doctors. Our zero-vacancy policy reduced vacancies in the State’s government hospitals to 4%. You have abandoned that policy, taken government hospitals back to their old condition and allowed vacancies to rise again. You have completely stopped the Nadu-Nedu works in government hospitals. You have weakened village clinics. You have left the 108 and 104 ambulance services in a dire condition.

Chandrababu garu, people strongly oppose your decision. One crore people signed a petition organised by our party to protest against it, yet you are pressing ahead. This is unjust. We completely oppose the privatisation of government medical colleges. When our government returns to power, we will take legal action against everyone involved in this matter and will not hesitate to make arrests. If you try to loot public assets through scams, people will not remain silent. They will teach you a fitting lesson.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianetnews Editorial staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)