VIJAYAWADA: Health Minister Satya Kumar Yadav has strongly criticised the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP), alleging that its one-crore signature campaign against the government’s Public–Private Partnership (PPP) model for medical colleges had turned into a ‘drama marked by meaningless scribbles.’
Speaking to the media at the State Secretariat on Tuesday, the Minister said the coalition government decided to run ten new medical colleges under the PPP model to improve public healthcare and ensure better opportunities for students. He accused YSRCP president Jagan Mohan Reddy of misleading people by portraying the initiative as privatisation.
According to the Minister, the YSRCP’s signature drive failed to attract public support, forcing party workers themselves to fill pages with random signatures “like chicken scratches.” He said people had distanced themselves from what he described as politically motivated attempts to create unrest. Claims that one in every five citizens had signed the petition were ‘completely false,’ he added.
Satya Kumar stated that several national bodies, including NITI Aayog and the National Medical Commission, had already endorsed the PPP model. He also noted that a Parliamentary Standing Committee chaired by a Samajwadi Party MP recently supported PPP‑based management of medical colleges.
He said even Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had spoken favourably about PPP initiatives, leaving YSRCP MPs ‘visibly unsettled’ during their meeting with her. The Minister welcomed YSRCP’s decision to approach the courts, saying judicial scrutiny would help dispel misinformation.
Highlighting that PPP is widely used in critical sectors such as defence, national highways, and major infrastructure projects — including the Hyderabad Shamshabad Airport — the Minister questioned why similar collaboration should be opposed in the health sector, which benefits the poor.
He clarified that the government would retain full ownership of all ten medical colleges and pointed out that Delhi had recently proposed running 11 medical colleges under the PPP model and that ten other states were already implementing similar systems.