YSRCP slams Andhra govt over PPP model for medical colleges

Amaravati, Sep 16 (PTI) YSRCP leader and former health minister V Rajini on Tuesday lashed out at the Andhra Pradesh government for proposing a Public Private Partnership (PPP) model to construct medical colleges, alleging it would make healthcare and medical education unaffordable.

She accused Health Minister Satya Kumar Yadav of "misleading people with rhetorics" and claimed that the NDA coalition government was attempting to hand over public health infrastructure to private players under the guise of reforms.

The Andhra Pradesh cabinet had recently decided to construct 10 new medical colleges under the PPP model.

Information and Public Relations Minister K Parthasarathy had said that the 10 medical colleges were part of the 17 colleges sanctioned during the previous YSRCP regime by the Centre.

"The PPP model for medical colleges will only make healthcare costly and medical education unaffordable," said Rajini in a letter to Yadav.

She said that the PPP model would only burden patients and students as private operators will recover investments with profit margins, making treatment costly and medical education unbearable.

According to Rajini, district-level primary health centres, community health centres, area hospitals and teaching hospitals can serve their true purpose only if run entirely by the government, noting that Kerala and Tamil Nadu, which lead in health indices, have avoided PPP in this sector.

She reminded that during 2019-24, despite two years lost to the Covid-19 pandemic, the previous YSRCP government managed to operationalise five new medical colleges and secured permissions for Paderu and Pulivendula colleges, taking the tally to seven institutions nearing completion.

Accusing the TDP-led NDA coalition government of "malice", she alleged that it pressured the Medical Assessment and Ratings Board (MARB) to withdraw permission for Pulivendula medical college solely to deny credit to the previous regime.

Rajini criticised the TDP government for failing to establish even a single medical college during its previous tenure between 2014 and 2019, despite central schemes supporting 82 new colleges nationwide.

"The NDA coalition government is ready to spend Rs 6,000 crore in a single year on Amaravati capital but unwilling to spend the same over five years for medical colleges," she remarked, terming it a betrayal of public health needs.

The former minister also pointed out that the recent National Medical Commission (NMC) guidelines of 2023-25 have eased norms, making it easier to establish colleges with smaller batches and flexible infrastructure, stressing that only political will was lacking in the current regime.

She urged the government to drop the PPP plan and take full responsibility for establishing and operating medical colleges to ensure accessible and affordable healthcare for the people of Andhra Pradesh.

Meanwhile, there was no immediate reaction from the ruling TDP. PTI MS STH KH