As the New Year pproached, people across Andhra Pradesh waited with hope, expecting relief-oriented decisions from Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu’s Cabinet. Students hoped for the release of fee reimbursement dues, poor patients expected clearance of Aarogyasri arrears, farmers awaited input subsidy and cyclone relief, and unemployed youth looked for action on job allowance promises. Women expected clarity on the promised monthly assistance, and senior citizens hoped for the announced Rs. 4,000 pension from the age of 50. But all these hopes were shattered. The Cabinet meeting ended without a single people-centric decision. Not one welfare commitment was honoured. Instead, the government chose to burden citizens further, even on the eve of the New Year.
“BST” bomb on the People
While the Central Government recently reduced GST on several items, even celebrating the decision publicly in Kurnool, the Naidu government has gone in the opposite direction. Within 100 days of that event, Chandrababu Naidu has effectively introduced a new tax regime of his own: “BST” (Babu Service Tax). Under this, the government has imposed:
- An additional 10% levy on vehicle life tax
- Increased road taxes and registration charges
- Higher charges on public services
- Increased prices of cinema tickets
- Burden on essential commodities
This comes on top of already rising costs of living. Instead of easing pressure, the government has launched what people see as a tax assault.
Rs. 19,000 Cr power burden
In just one year, electricity charges alone have been increased by nearly Rs. 19,000 crore, directly burdening households. Taxes are now being levied even on drinking water. User charges are being imposed across government services. Roads now carry additional cess, and preparations are underway to install toll gates even on Panchayat roads. At the same time, everything is being pushed into the PPP mode, turning governance into a revenue-extraction system rather than public service.
Promises forgotten, Welfare abandoned
Despite tall promises made during elections, the government has failed to act on:
- Fee reimbursement for students
- Aarogyasri pending dues
- Input subsidy and cyclone relief for farmers
- Unemployment allowance
- Rs. 1,500 monthly assistance to women
- Rs. 4,000 pension for people aged 50+
- Implementation of “Super Six” guarantees
Not a single meaningful decision was taken on these issues. People had hoped that at least on the occasion of the New Year, the Chief Minister would show compassion. Instead, they were met with betrayal.
From false propaganda to open loot
Earlier, the TDP ran an aggressive propaganda campaign against the YSRCP government over so-called “garbage tax,” despite the fact that no such tax was imposed then. Today, Chandrababu Naidu himself is piling one tax after another on the public. If taxes are being added on top of existing ones, what should this government be called now? A “clean government”? Or a government of burden and deception?
Privatisation drive and sale of public assets
Alongside rising taxes, the government has accelerated privatisation. Public assets are being handed over under PPP mode, and essential services are being commercialised. Even healthcare and education are being pushed into private hands, forcing people to sell assets to afford treatment or education. Despite opposition from crores of citizens, the government is moving ahead with the privatisation of government medical colleges, allegedly to benefit select private interests.
Adoni Medical College: a case of manipulation
The Adoni Medical College episode exposes the government’s intent clearly. Despite public outrage and lack of competition, the government appears determined to hand over the college to a single bidder. Initially, it was projected that a major corporate hospital group had come forward. Media leaks were deliberately planted to create that impression. Later, it emerged that the bidder was merely an individual doctor associated with a private hospital group.
This raises serious questions:
- How can a government medical college be awarded without transparency?
- Why was there only one bidder?
- Why were eligibility norms diluted?
- Why is experience in running a teaching hospital not mandatory?
- Why is qualification based merely on “net worth”?
- Why are there no safeguards on shareholding changes, subcontracting, or brand usage?
All this suggests a tailor-made tender designed for a chosen individual.
A replay of the skill development scam
The Adoni episode mirrors the infamous Skill Development scam, where the government once claimed to have partnered with Siemens, only to later admit the agreement was with an employee-linked entity. Agreements were altered, rules bent, and hundreds of crores were lost. Yesterday it was the Skill Scam. Today it is the Adoni Medical College privatisation. The pattern remains the same.
Mounting debt, one-sided development
The Cabinet has now cleared fresh borrowing of Rs. 8,000 crore from NABARD for Amaravati. This is in addition to massive existing borrowings:
- Rs. 15,000 crore from the World Bank
- Rs. 11,000 crore from HUDCO
- Rs. 5,000 crore from KfW
- Rs. 7,500 crore from NABFID
- Rs. 21,000 crore through CRDA bonds
Total borrowings are nearing Rs. 60,000 crore, all concentrated in one region. The same Chief Minister who once claimed he would not take a single rupee loan is now loading massive debt onto the people of Andhra Pradesh. At the same time, capital-region farmers continue to face harassment and uncertainty.
A govt driven by greed, not governance
Taxes are rising. Welfare is disappearing. Public assets are being sold. Debt is exploding. Transparency is collapsing. And yet, the government presses ahead relentlessly. What was promised as “development” has turned into extraction. What was projected as reform has become exploitation. What was sold as governance has degenerated into unchecked privatisation and burden-sharing at the cost of ordinary citizens. The New Year has not brought hope, it has brought a fresh wave of economic assault on the people of Andhra Pradesh.
