Demanding rollback of the PPP notification for government medical colleges, civil society organisation Praja Arogya Vedika (PAV) said the move, formalised through a cabinet resolution and issue of tenders for PPP, represents a blatant abdication of the government’s Constitutional responsibility to provide affordable medical education and healthcare to all citizens.
In a letter to Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, PAV general secretary T. Kameshwar Rao and president MV Ramanaiah expressed serious concern at the government’s recent decision to hand over 10 newly sanctioned government medical colleges to private entities under the Public Private Partnership (PPP) model.
They drew the attention of Mr. Naidu to the fact that the NITI Aayog’s directive to establish one medical college per Lok Sabha constituency led to the sanctioning of 17 new medical colleges for Andhra Pradesh during the previous YSRCP regime. Five of these colleges have already commenced operations on a Letter of Permission basis, and two more in tribal and remote areas are progressing with full Central funding.
However, the coalition government’s decision to transfer 10 of these colleges to PPP is a shocking betrayal of public trust. It not only distances poor and middle class youth from pursuing medical education but also pushes public health into peril by commodifying essential services.
