Medical colleges row turns political flashpoint in AP
SAAP Chairman A Ravi Naidu speaking to the media in Tirupati on Saturday
- TDP and YSRCP trade allegations over intent and impact
- Tirupati MP Gurumoorthy argues privatisation will burden middle and lower-income families
- SAAP Chairman Ravi Naidu calls signature campaign a drama and questions YSRCP’s understanding of PPP
Tirupati: The State government’s decision to develop medical colleges under Public-Private Partnership (PPP) mode has triggered a major political controversy, with the ruling Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and opposition YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) locked in a war of words.
YSRCP has strongly opposed the PPP policy, alleging that it amounts to privatisation of medical education and will hurt poor and middle-class students. The party recently claimed to have collected over one crore signatures against the decision, which were submitted to the Governor by former Chief Minister and YSRCP chief YS Jagan Mohan Reddy. The party says the response reflects widespread public opposition to medical college privatisation.
As part of YSRCP’s campaign, Tirupati MP Maddila Gurumoorthy said strong resistance has emerged across the State against privatisation and asserted that lakhs of students aspire to become doctors but are forced to depend on expensive private colleges or foreign education due to limited seats.
He recalled that during YSRCP regime, a decision was taken to establish government medical colleges in every district to expand access and reduce financial burden on families.
Despite limited central funding, the previous government explored NABARD and other schemes to complete construction of 17 medical colleges. Gurmoorthy also rejected TDP’s claims that YSRCP members supported private medical colleges at parliamentary level, stating that standing committees only offer recommendations and do not reflect support for privatisation.
However, TDP has dismissed YSRCP’s allegations as misleading. Sports Authority of Andhra Pradesh Chairman Animini Ravi Naidu termed the signature campaign a ‘drama’ and accused YS Jagan Mohan Reddy of lacking clarity on PPP model. He questioned why Jagan failed to respond to the Governor’s queries on the policy during their recent meeting.
Ravi Naidu cited GOs 107 and 108 issued during YSRCP tenure, alleging that despite claims of government-run colleges, high fees were fixed under various quotas, including self-financing and NRI categories.
He argued that if the intent was truly pro-poor, 85 percent of seats should have been allotted purely on merit at minimal cost after All India Quota. Ravi challenged YSRCP to an open debate on these GOs and accused the former CM of making false claims about free seats and weakening the healthcare system.
