YSRCP Anakapalli District President and former Minister Gudivada Amarnath, joined by senior YSRCP leaders, inspected the under-construction Government Medical College at Narsipatnam and launched a scathing attack on the coalition government for its decision to privatize ten government medical colleges under the PPP model.
Amarnath declared that privatization of these colleges is nothing short of a betrayal of the poor. It will deny free medical education to underprivileged students and deprive the poor of affordable healthcare. He reminded that under YSR and YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, medical reforms were initiated to ensure every district had a government medical college and a super-specialty hospital, with Rs. 8,500 crore sanctioned for 18 colleges. Already, five have started, adding 750 MBBS seats for poor students.
He directly confronted Chandrababu Naidu, asking why, during three terms as Chief Minister, he never built even one government medical college. Instead, Naidu is now trying to hand over government-built institutions to private hands despite funds already being arranged by YSRCP.
Amarnath also exposed Naidu’s double standards on Amaravati, where out of an estimated Rs. 1.09 lakh crore, only 4% was spent before his government fell, yet he claims credit for others’ work. He lambasted the ongoing land scams, where lands worth Rs. 10 crore an acre are being given away for just Rs. 50 lakh, and government land is treated as “family jagir.”
He criticized the cancellation of Pulivendula Medical College’s permissions despite meeting all requirements, describing it as a deliberate act to deny opportunities to poor students. Farmers, too, he said, have been betrayed, with Rs. 20,000 per farmer promised but only Rs. 5,000 delivered this year, leaving Rs. 35,000 still due.
Turning to Lokesh, Amarnath said Andhra Pradesh is being run “North Korea-style” by Nara Lokesh, who behaves like “Andhra Kim,” weaponizing arrests and false cases against YSRCP leaders while shielding corporate interests.
He warned that YSRCP will not allow privatization to succeed. Any PPP agreements will be scrapped, and medical colleges will remain in government hands to serve the poor. YSRCP, under YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, will mobilize people, social groups, and political parties until this anti-poor decision is reversed.
