Andhra Government's PPP Plan for Medical Colleges Faces Backlash
The coalition government in Andhra Pradesh, which has decided to hand over government medical colleges to private individuals under the PPP (Public-Private Partnership) model, is struggling to justify this decision. The numbers presented by the Chandrababu government and the posts officially published on the TDP's Facebook page are shocking everyone. This is the same Chandrababu government that set a target to complete projects worth over 60,000 crore rupees in Amaravati, the capital of Andhra Pradesh, within three years. If the Amaravati projects are not completed as per the target set by Chief Minister Chandrababu, the TDP will have to pay a huge political price. TDP leaders are of the same opinion. The government, which has set the target of completing over 80,000 crore rupees' worth of work in three years, claims that it will take 20 to 25 years to complete the 17 medical colleges in the state. IAS officers are also stunned by these calculations.
According to the previous government's policy, it would indeed take this much time. However, according to the PPP model, it could be completed in two to two and a half years, as officially posted by the TDP on its Facebook page. Now, the government, which has set a target to complete massive projects in Amaravati within three years, is claiming that it will take 20 to 25 years to complete 17 medical colleges, which is being seen as strange by the authorities. If the government had genuine intentions, the same special-purpose vehicle (SPV) that was set up for Amaravati projects could also be used to complete these colleges easily, authorities are suggesting. This way, raising funds for these colleges wouldn't be much of a problem either. But the coalition government is ready to assign the medical colleges, left unfinished by the previous government led by Jagan Mohan Reddy, to private individuals and institutions under the PPP model, as part of a strategic move, according to reports.
Retired IAS officer PV Ramesh has also severely criticized the Andhra Pradesh government's decision. In an interview, he stated that it is not difficult for a state government to raise funds required for building medical colleges. Handing over such public welfare projects to private institutions is wrong. He further commented that while it's okay to criticize Jagan's failures politically — pointing out that during Jagan's tenure, medical colleges were not constructed, and the focus was on other works — the claim that it will take 20 to 25 years to complete these medical colleges exposes the real intentions of the government. The coalition government has the power to rectify the mistakes in the Jagan model and make improvements, but instead, it seems to be looking for excuses, he said. With the current developments, many people believe that the coalition government is in a dilemma regarding the medical colleges issue. There has been a large-scale criticism of the government's decision on social media as well.
