- YSRCP pushes back against Medical College Privatization
A massive statewide people’s movement led by the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) against the privatization of Andhra Pradesh’s government medical colleges has reached a decisive phase. From village-level rallies to national-level interventions, the party has escalated its campaign, mobilizing over one crore signatures and taking the fight directly to the Union Government.
People’s movement sweeps across AP
The YSRCP’s One Crore Signatures Movement, launched on October 10, received overwhelming participation across all constituencies. Party cadres covered every village and ward, explaining the dangers of privatizing medical colleges, institutions established by former Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy to ensure access to medical education for poor, rural, and marginalized communities.
Each constituency gathered 50,000 to 1,00,000 signatures. On Wednesday, the signed forms were moved in large convoys to constituency headquarters, accompanied by rallies and flag-offs by party leaders. Strengthened by two months of Rachchabanda outreach, the campaign has evolved into a citizens’ struggle to safeguard public healthcare and secure future opportunities for the state’s youth.
YSRCP leaders accused the TDP-led coalition government of acting as a “broker,” attempting to hand over fully equipped government medical colleges, built with public funds, to private operators under the PPP model. Such actions, they argued, would deprive SC, ST, OBC, poor, and rural students of medical education opportunities and weaken public healthcare statewide.
All signature forms will be transported to the YSRCP Central Office at Tadepalli by the 15th. On the 17th, Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy and senior leaders will submit the consolidated signatures to the Governor.
YSRCP MPs take protest to Delhi
Taking the issue to the national stage, a delegation of YSRCP MPs met Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in New Delhi on Wednesday. They formally opposed the privatization move and submitted a memorandum seeking immediate intervention to halt the process.
The delegation included Parliamentary Party Leader Y.V. Subba Reddy, Lok Sabha Floor Leader Mithun Reddy, Rajya Sabha Floor Leader Pilli Subhash Chandra Bose, Rajya Sabha MPs Meda Raghunadha Reddy, Ayodhya Rami Reddy, Golla Babu Rao, and Lok Sabha MPs Maddila Gurumurthy and Gumma Tanuja Rani.
The MPs explained that the TDP Government is preparing to lease out lands and operational rights of the state’s newly built medical colleges at extremely low rates—raising widespread public suspicion and threatening irreversible damage to public healthcare. They reminded the Centre that 7 out of the 17 new medical colleges established under Y.S. Jagan’s administration are already functional, significantly expanding opportunities for disadvantaged students.
Highlighting the risks, the MPs warned that privatization would trigger a shortage of government doctors, collapse public hospital services, and make medical education unaffordable. They urged the Union Government to honor the overwhelming public sentiment represented by the one crore signatures.
Demand for immediate action
YSRCP leaders emphasized that the people of Andhra Pradesh have clearly rejected the privatization of government medical colleges. They called on the Union Government to intervene, stop the proposed PPP handover, and protect public assets built with thousands of crores of taxpayer money. As the massive signature movement converges with national-level pressure, the showdown between public will and the state government’s privatization agenda is set to intensify in the days ahead.
