Jagan Criticises Chandrababu Over PPP Model

YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has strongly criticised Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu over the proposed privatisation of government medical colleges in Andhra Pradesh under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model. In a social media post, Jagan alleged that the move amounted to a major scam and would affect the availability of free healthcare and affordable medical education for the poor. He said his government had initiated 17 new medical colleges, of which five were inaugurated and another three were made ready for classes. According to him, the remaining nine colleges could be completed with an annual investment of ₹1,000 crore. He questioned why the present government was not continuing the construction work. Jagan also alleged that the PPP proposal involved leasing valuable government land at ₹100 per acre, allowing private entities to control more than half of the medical seats, providing ₹1,630 crore in Viability Gap Funding (VGF), and paying salaries of doctors, professors and staff through government funds for two years. He estimated the salary expenditure at ₹5 crore per month and ₹120 crore over two years for each college.

Jagan argued that the colleges were planned as teaching hospitals offering free, quality multispecialty healthcare, with half of the medical seats filled through the convenor quota and the remaining seats available at comparatively lower fees. He said his government had also developed a financial model for their operation and established links with banks for funding. He further explained that the colleges could be connected with area hospitals, Community Health Centres (CHCs), Primary Health Centres (PHCs) and village clinics to create a healthcare network extending to rural areas. Criticising the Naidu government, Jagan raised concerns over pending Aarogyasri payments, the availability of medicines in government hospitals, specialist doctor vacancies, the suspension of Nadu-Nedu works, the functioning of village clinics and the condition of 108 and 104 ambulance services. He said that despite public opposition and a signature campaign involving one crore people, the government was proceeding with the PPP proposal. Jagan stated that his party opposed the privatisation and warned that legal action, including arrests, would be taken against those found responsible if his party returned to power. These are allegations and claims made by Jagan in his post.