VIJAYAWADA: Medical and Health Minister Satyakumar Yadav launched a sharp attack on the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP), alleging that the previous government had failed to sanction even Rs 5 crore during its five-year tenure to complete the girls’ hostel building at the Government Siddhartha Medical College in Vijayawada. He asserted that former Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy had no moral right to criticise the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model being adopted by the present coalition government in medical education.
The Minister on Tuesday inaugurated the newly built hostel building for women MBBS students at the medical college. He said the project was approved in November 2015 during the TDP government at an estimated cost of Rs 21.51 crore and construction began in 2017. By 2019, nearly Rs 16.24 crore had been spent, but the works were allegedly brought to a complete standstill after the YSRCP came to power. As a result, around 350 students were forced to live in hostels with inadequate facilities, causing severe inconvenience, he said.
“During the previous YSRCP regime, the development of existing government medical colleges came to a complete standstill. The previous government acted arbitrarily by failing to utilise funds sanctioned by the Central government for increasing PG seats and for undertaking infrastructure development in colleges,” he added.
The Minister further criticised the previous government for its poor performance in establishing new medical colleges, stating that although approvals were given to spend Rs 8,480 crore in the name of new medical colleges during the YSRCP tenure, the actual progress and sanctions were dismal.
Defending the PPP model, the Minister said it was being implemented to ensure rapid development of new colleges.
Vijayawada MP Kesineni Sivanath, MLAs Gadde Ramamohan Rao and Yarlagadda Venkata Rao, District Collector Lakshmisha, Additional Director of Medical Education Venkatesh, and others were present.