Follow TNM's WhatsApp channel for news updates and story links.
YSR Congress Party president and former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Thursday, December 18, submitted over one crore signatures to Governor S Abdul Nazeer, opposing the state government’s move to develop government medical colleges through the Public Private Partnership (PPP) model, which his party alleges is a step towards privatisation.
Accompanied by senior YSRCP leaders, Jagan met the Governor at Raj Bhavan and handed over the petition along with a detailed representation outlining widespread public resistance to the policy. Party leaders said multiple vehicles carrying documents containing the signatures were brought to Lok Bhavan in Vijayawada, where officials from the Governor’s office verified the submission.
Jagan told the Governor that the signature campaign reflected a “collective public mandate” against privatising government medical colleges and warned that such a move would undermine affordable healthcare and medical education. He described the campaign as a peaceful, statewide democratic exercise and said it should be treated as a public referendum on the issue.
Earlier in the day, the former Chief Minister paid tributes at the BR Ambedkar Social Justice Memorial, stating that the protest was rooted in constitutional values, social justice and the right to accessible healthcare. Addressing the media later, he said poor and middle-class families depended on government-run hospitals and that privatisation would inevitably lead to higher costs and exploitation.
Jagan reiterated that the YSRCP would approach the courts to challenge the PPP model if the government did not withdraw its decision. He said affidavits, along with the collected signatures, would be submitted to demonstrate the seriousness of public opposition. He also warned that unchecked privatisation would push healthcare entirely into private hands, affecting future generations.
Referring to his tenure as Chief Minister, Jagan said the 17 government medical colleges sanctioned under the YSRCP regime were intended to expand medical seats at affordable fees. Completing these colleges, he argued, would significantly benefit students and patients alike, whereas private management would prioritise profits over public interest.
He alleged that under the PPP framework, government land, buildings and staff would remain public, but management and profits would be handed over to private entities. Flagging off vehicles carrying the signatures from his residence in Tadepalli earlier in the day, Jagan said the PPP model would be scrapped if the YSRCP returned to power, calling it a “large-scale scam”. He also questioned the government’s reluctance to spend an estimated Rs 5,000 crore to complete stalled construction despite having a Rs 2 lakh crore budget.
The ruling coalition strongly pushed back against the YSRCP’s campaign. TDP spokesperson and AP Swachh Andhra Corporation Chairman Kommareddy Pattabhiram accused Jagan of staging a political spectacle and pointed out that YSRCP MP M Gurumurthy, a member of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health and Family Welfare, had supported PPP-based development of medical colleges at the national level.
Pattabhiram also alleged corruption during the YSRCP’s tenure, claiming the previous government had attempted to misuse funds allocated for medical colleges.
NDA leaders echoed similar views, with 20-Point Programme Chairman Lanka Dinakar stating that the YSRCP was deliberately creating confusion about the PPP model. He said the framework had been widely used during the YSRCP regime itself for health initiatives such as Aarogyasri and emergency ambulance services, which were projected as government programmes.
