Vijayawada: Minister for information and public relations and housing, Kolusu Parthasarathy on Tuesday said that the state government is working responsibly with the clear objective of making Andhra Pradesh the number one in the country. Addressing a ‘Meet the Press’ at the Press Club here, the minister elaborated on the achievements of the present coalition government and highlighted the failures of the previous regime.

Parthasarathy clarified that the Public–Private Partnership (PPP) model was not newly introduced by Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, but is a globally accepted and nationally successful policy adopted by several states.

He said criticism of the PPP model in medical education was unjustified. While the previous government claimed to have established 17 medical colleges, it spent only about Rs 600 crore and abandoned projects worth Rs 8,500 crore midway. Under the new PPP policy, 50 per cent of seats will be allotted to Andhra Pradesh students purely on merit with a fee of Rs 15,500, compared to only 35 per cent seats earlier, he said, adding that the opposition was unable to digest this positive change.

Parthasarathy accused the previous government of destroying the State’s economy and weakening institutions. Citing the CAG report, he said Andhra Pradesh incurred 32 per cent more debt than other states and borrowed indiscriminately outside the budget through corporations, without investing in capital expenditure or infrastructure. Despite financial constraints, the present government is committed to implementing welfare schemes such as NTR Bharosa pensions, for which nearly Rs 50,000 crore was spent in 18 months.

He said the ‘Talliki Vandanam’ scheme now benefits all girl children in a family, unlike earlier policies. The government aims to create 20 lakh jobs by attracting investments, with Rs 8.29 lakh crore already grounded and MoUs worth Rs 13.5 lakh crore signed expected to generate over 20 lakh jobs.

On housing, the minister said the government’s goal is to ensure a house for every eligible poor family by 2029. So far, 18.5 lakh houses have been sanctioned, with 3.2 lakh completed after the coalition came to power. Construction of 5.5 lakh houses will be completed by June–July 2026. Additional financial assistance is being provided for TIDCO houses, especially to SC, ST, BC and minority beneficiaries.

On media accreditation, the minister said the government recognises the crucial role of journalists in strengthening democracy. While accreditation cards were reduced from 22,000 to 12,000 during 2019–24, the present government has decided to issue accreditation to all eligible journalists. A committee has been formed to study accreditation for social media journalists and YouTubers.

Chairman of CR Media Academy Alapati Suresh and several journalist leaders and representatives attended the programme.