VIJAYAWADA: Former YSRC minister Vidadala Rajini denounced the TDP-led NDA government’s move to privatise the newly established medical colleges in the State, terming it a ‘big scam’. Speaking to the media in Guntur on Wednesday, she highlighted that the previous YS Jagan Mohan Reddy government took up the establishment of 17 medical colleges at once with an investment of Rs 8,500 crore to make medical education accessible to poor students.
It was also aimed at extending super-speciality medical services to the poor people. “The NDA government is conspiring to privatise the new medical colleges in the guise of Public Private People Partnership (PPPP) mode,” she alleged. Rajini mentioned that the first medical college in the State was set up in 1923.
Only 11 government colleges were set up in the next 100 years. The previous YSRC government took up the establishment of 17 new medical colleges and five had already started functioning by the 2023- 24 academic year.
“If Jagan retained power, five more medical colleges would have been opened in 2024-25, and the rest would be ready by 2025-26,” she said. The YSRC leader mentioned that the newly opened medical colleges provided 750 MBBS seats last year, but only 50 seats were available in Paderu medical college this year.
She deplored the government’s refusal to accept 50 seats offered by the National Medical Commission (NMC) for Pulivendula college, and questioned why there was so much hatred towards the development of Pulivendula. “It’s nothing but political vendetta,” she observed.
The government’s decision had crushed the hopes of students and their parents. She alleged that the coalition government was acting in a shameful manner out of fear that Jagan might gain good reputation if the project materialised.