Chandrababu’s Swift Decision on Medical Colleges Sparks Debate!

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and Telugu Desam Party president Chandrababu Naidu is known for taking his time when it comes to making decisions. He does not conclude matters quickly. Chandrababu’s style of decision-making is well known not only to party leaders but also to officials. To what extent—there has still been no official decision even after 18 months of the coalition coming to power regarding the Rushikonda buildings constructed in Visakhapatnam at a cost of ₹500 crore by former Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy. Only now has there been some movement on this issue. All this time, those buildings were kept vacant, and the government had to bear crores of rupees in power bills along with maintenance expenses. Many of Chandrababu’s decisions tend to be like this. However, in one particular matter, the decision taken by Chandrababu has left not only Telugu Desam leaders but also ministers and officials stunned. Even ministers are expressing the view that perhaps this is the only issue in Chandrababu’s political history on which he has taken a decision so swiftly. There is also a discussion underway about how much interest he must have had in this entire matter to take such a rapid decision.

It is known that the Andhra Pradesh government issued a notification to allocate government medical colleges to private institutions under the PPP model. In the first phase, a notification was issued for four colleges—Adoni, Markapuram, Madanapalle, and Pulivendula. Reports initially said that bids were submitted only for the Adoni college, but now even that has fallen through. As a result, it is being counted that no bids were submitted for all four colleges. This has turned into a big shock for the coalition government in Andhra Pradesh. Normally, in such matters, Chandrababu would hold several meetings and then decide how to proceed. But in the matter of handing over these medical colleges under the PPP model, Chandrababu has taken a decision at an unprecedented speed, unlike ever before.

While criticisms are already coming that handing over medical colleges to private institutions under the PPP model itself is a major scam, as if that were not enough, Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu made a sensational announcement that viability gap funding (VGF) would also be given to institutions that come forward to take over these colleges. It is being said that this amount will be jointly arranged by the central and state governments. It is not just the YSRCP that is saying that handing over medical colleges to private institutions under the PPP model is a scam; many others, including retired IAS officer P.V. Ramesh, are also saying the same. P.V. Ramesh revealed in a meeting that even if run legally, each medical college can generate a profit of ₹180 to ₹250 crore per year. Officials are expressing suspicion that Chandrababu would not have reacted so quickly on the issue of these colleges unless there was some hidden agenda, and that the very fact he has now brought a proposal like VGF to the table indicates that there must be some major ulterior motive behind it.