Former Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy recently visited Narsipatnam to inspect the under-construction Medical College.
The YSR Congress had pinned its hopes on the medical colleges privatization issue to corner the Government.
However, a day after the visit, Jagan left for Bengaluru and is set to fly to London later tonight with his wife Bharathi to visit their elder daughter. He is expected to return to India on the 23rd of this month.
YSR Congress cadres had expected Jagan to visit other medical colleges and build pressure on the Government. But his two-week absence will likely push the issue out of public focus.
The previous government had sanctioned 17 new government medical colleges with a ₹8,500 crore budget. Of that, the Jagan administration spent only ₹1,451 crore. The Chandrababu Naidu Government has now introduced a PPP model for ten new colleges, releasing ₹786.82 crore to restart the pending works.
Facing a cash crunch, Andhra Pradesh hopes to save about ₹3,700 crore in development costs and ₹500 crore in annual running expenses through the PPP model. Government medical colleges are already short-staffed, with 59% vacancies in assistant professor posts and only 41% of super-specialty roles filled. Private participation is expected to help ease this shortage.
The Government has clarified that PPP does not mean privatization. Private entities will manage operations, but the state will retain full control over admissions, fees, and curriculum. Fees in PPP colleges will also remain much lower than in private medical institutions.
