Has the AP coalition government turned into a comedy?!
In Andhra Pradesh, there is a growing opinion that the coalition government has indeed turned into a comedy. The coalition leaders are behaving in a way that there is no consistency between what they say and what they do. It has become a common criticism that when in opposition, they say one thing, but once in power, they act completely contrary to it. Especially, from the case of the Sekki agreements to the electricity contracts, TDP leaders even approached the courts. However, once in power, they have gone completely silent. TDP leaders themselves claim that a lot of things are happening behind the scenes, beyond what is visible to the public.
Currently, the issue of handing over government medical colleges in Andhra Pradesh to private companies under the PPP model has become a hot topic. A huge war of words is going on between the ruling TDP and YSRCP over this matter. In a nutshell, many people now believe that the coalition government is in self-defense mode on this issue. Recently, Minister of Health and Medical Education Sathya Kumar made sensational allegations in a media interaction. He claimed that during Jagan’s tenure, there was massive corruption in the construction of medical colleges. He alleged that contractors took commissions of 100 crore rupees per college. According to the National Medical Commission (NMC) rules, constructing a hospital with 420 beds is estimated to cost around 320 crore rupees, he said.
However, he pointed out that the previous Jagan government raised the cost of constructing these colleges to between 500 to 600 crore rupees and gave administrative approval. He alleged that if these projects went into the hands of others, the commission deal would have been exposed, and that Jagan was creating a fuss over the medical colleges. Now, when there is clear evidence of corruption in the construction of medical colleges, the discussion has arisen as to why no action is being taken, and why the matter is only being addressed through a press meet. The question now is whether the colleges being given under the PPP model will follow the numbers mentioned by Sathya Kumar, or will they adhere to the estimates approved by Jagan. It remains to be seen if the coalition government will increase the rates further in a more generous manner, or if this will be settled in the coming days.
