VIJAYAWADA: Minister for Health, Medical and Family Welfare Y Satya Kumar Yadav tore in to the previous government’s handling of the health sector during its tenure from 2019 to 2024 and rubbished the false claims about transforming the State’s healthcare system.
In a strongly worded open letter to former Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, Satya Kumar highlighted several areas where the previous administration allegedly failed.
He pointed out that the incidence of malaria increased by 250 per cent in 2023 as compared to the previous year, attributing the rise to former government’s inadequate public health policies. He criticized the lack of infrastructure in tribal and remote areas, where residents were forced to carry sick individuals in makeshift stretchers due to poor connectivity and inadequate ambulance services.
The Minister also questioned the former Chief Minister’s claims about the ‘Aarogyasri’ health insurance scheme. While Jagan Mohan Reddy claimed to have spent Rs 25 lakh per family annually, Satya Kumar Yadav argued that not a single family received such a benefit during the previous government’s tenure. On the other hand, YSRC government left behind unpaid Aarogyasri bills amounting to Rs 2,000 crore.
The Minister also took issue with Jagan Mohan Reddy’s claim of recruiting over 55,000 personnel in the health sector, stating that the actual number was closer to 30,000. He pointed out significant shortfalls in medical staff, including a shortage of around 4,000 doctors, which, according to him, directly contradicted the YSRC leader’s claims of improving healthcare. He also charged the previous government with mismanaging funds allocated for the establishment of 17 new medical colleges.