VIJAYAWADA: Health Minister Y Satya Kumar Yadav on Wednesday hit back at former Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy for his allegations against the coalition government, accusing him of spreading lies and toxic propaganda to divert public attention from the ruling alliance’s development programmes.
Addressing the media, the Health Minister said Jagan had no moral right to question the coalition government’s decisions on new medical colleges or the universal health insurance scheme.
“Jagan spent only Rs 1,450 crore in four years on medical colleges. It was his inefficiency and discrimination that forced the NDA government to adopt the PPP model for new medical colleges,” the Health Minister said.
Satya Kumar pointed out that the National Medical Commission (NMC) had reduced MBBS admissions in Paderu Medical College to 50 for 2024-25 due to inadequate infrastructure, despite approving 150 seats in 2023-24.
“The State lost 100 MBBS seats in a single college because Jagan failed to meet the NMC standards. Who is responsible it?” he questioned.
The Health Minister alleged bias in allocating funds, citing that Pulivendula college received 84% of its estimated cost, while Markapuram, Madanapalle and Adoni colleges got 15-17% only. To bring all remaining 12 colleges up to NMC standards with 150 seats each, the government should spend Rs 7,000 crore this year, he said, defending the PPP route as the only practical solution in present scenario.
He also mocked Jagan’s press conference as an attempt to overshadow the coalition’s ‘Super Six-Super Hit’ event in Anantapur.