YCP misleading Centre on PPP medical colleges: CM

Amaravati: Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu on Tuesday accused the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) of attempting to mislead the Union government over the establishment of medical colleges under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model amid the Opposition party’s intensified protests against the policy.

Speaking informally to media persons at the NTR Bhavan, the Chief Minister said YSRCP Members of Parliament had taken their objections to Parliament and had even sought to project the PPP model in ‘distorted manner’ before Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. According to Naidu, the Union Minister firmly rejected what he described as an attempt to misrepresent the policy framework.

The Chief Minister asserted that the PPP model is a globally accepted mechanism that is being implemented across sectors, including healthcare, to expand capacity and improve service delivery. He said the model would help increase the number of medical seats while ensuring access to corporate-level healthcare for economically weaker sections.

Naidu also launched a sharp personal attack on former chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, alleging the latter’s disregard for judicial processes. He said Jagan Mohan Reddy frequently skipped court appearances in cases related to alleged illegal assets and raised objections even when Supreme Court directions were being implemented. Such conduct, he remarked, reflected a lack of respect for constitutional institutions.

Referring to the TTD Parakamani theft case, the Chief Minister recalled that the High Court had expressed concern over attempts to treat it as an ordinary offence. He said offerings made by devotees carry deep religious sentiment and welcomed the court’s suggestion to adopt artificial intelligence-based systems for the counting and management of temple donations.

On governance and administration, Naidu said the government’s practice of issuing appointment letters to newly selected candidates in the presence of their family members was intended to instill a sense of pride and responsibility. He noted that this approach, earlier followed during DSC recruitments, is now being adopted for police constable appointments under the ‘Yuvagalam’ programme.

Turning to party affairs, the Chief Minister said he had held discussions with three-member committees on district-level organisational matters. He indicated that objections related to district party president appointments would be reviewed and resolved shortly. He also underlined the need to strengthen women’s representation in party leadership, stating that the current 28.4 per cent representation should be increased to 30 per cent in view of possible future reservations.

Naidu said the list of district party presidents would be announced within two days, followed by the declaration of the state committee before the end of the month. He added that organisational performance would be reviewed every three months and warned that non-performing office-bearers would be replaced, stressing the need for strict adherence to the party calendar from January onwards.