Kadapa: The decision by the Andhra Pradesh Government to seek withdrawal of permission issued in respect of online application for establishment of new medical college with 50 MBBS seats at Dr. YSR Government Medical College, Pulivendula in Kadapa district is snowballing into a big controversy putting the TDP-led NDA Government in the state on a sticky wicket.
Pulivendula is now represented by YSRCP president and former Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy in the Assembly. Eawrlier, it was represented by late YSR, his father, mother Vijayamma and uncle late Y.S. Vivekananda Reddy. Not only Jagan Mohan Reddy, in whose tenure the permission was granted, his estranged sister and Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) president Y.S. Sharmila and several student leaders came down heavily on the decision of the TDP-led NDA Government in the State.
The National Medical Commission and the Medical Assessment & Rating Board (MARB) stated in view of a request made by the Director of Medical Education, Andhra Pradesh , MARB, NMC has decided to withdraw the Letter of Permission (LoP) dated 16.08.2024 issued to Dr. YSR Government Medical College, Pulivendula for the academic year 2024-25. Accordingly, the LoP is withdrawn with immediate effect. The State Government claims that the permission was withdrawn as the college does not have the required infrastructure.
Slamming the government for its ‘ill-conceived’ decision, she wanted the coalition government to reconsider the decision and continue the government college admissions as per schedule. Leaders of SFI and AISF also criticised the government’s decision to withdraw permission to the medical college in the backward region of Rayalaseema.
In a blistering attack on the NDA coalition, Jagan Mohan Reddy has called on the TDP-led government to immediately reconsider its plans to privatise medical colleges and retract the letter sent to the NMC that could potentially reduce medical seats in the state.
Taking to the social media platform ‘X’, the YSRCP chief urged the TDP to prioritise public healthcare by completing the pending work in these institutions, ensuring quality medical education and free healthcare for the poor. He warned that failure to act responsibly could lead to public outrage against the government’s actions.
He decried the three-party coalition government led by Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu for undermining the state’s progress in medical education and public healthcare. He denounced the TDP government for rejecting additional MBBS seats offered by the Central Government, calling it an “act of self-sabotage” that denied aspiring students the opportunity to pursue medical education. He emphasised that while neighboring states were actively expanding their medical infrastructure, Andhra Pradesh missed a crucial opportunity due to the TDP’s negative response.
The YSRCP president stressed that providing quality education and healthcare is a fundamental duty of any government. He pointed out that the previous YSRCP government had initiated revolutionary reforms in the healthcare sector, establishing 17 new medical colleges with an investment of Rs.8,480 crore. This initiative aimed to create a medical college in every parliamentary constituency, thereby increasing the availability of healthcare professionals across the state. He further highlighted that five of these colleges had already begun classes for the 2023-24 academic year, adding 750 MBBS seats to the state.
He also criticised the TDP’s recent decisions to limit the number of seats in new medical colleges and questioned the reduction of seats at the Paderu and Pulivendula medical colleges and alleged that such moves indicated a larger plan to privatise these institutions, potentially leading to scams that would harm the public. Despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the YSRCP government had invested Rs.2,403 crore in medical infrastructure and prepared five more colleges for teaching activities.
He stated that government medical colleges are vital for providing free super-specialty services to the poor and guiding other healthcare institutions like area hospitals, community health centers (CHCs), and primary health centers (PHCs) and warned that privatizing these institutions would primarily harm poor students and local communities, leading to exorbitant fees due to the lack of competition in healthcare services.
Reddy urgied the TDP government to prioritise the public’s health and welfare by focusing on completing the pending work in medical colleges rather than pursuing privatization, which would lead to public discontent and outrage.
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