YSRCP Chief YS Jagan Mohan Reddy Criticizes Chandrababu Naidu Over Hospital and Healthcare Policies
Amaravati, September 5 — Former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and YSR Congress Party President YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has accused Chandrababu Naidu of misusing public funds and harming the state’s healthcare system. He accused Naidu of privatizing government medical colleges and weakening the popular free healthcare scheme, Arogyasri.
In a fiery post on social media platform X, YS Jagan slammed Naidu for turning cabinet meetings into tools for personal gains rather than serving the people. He pointed out that until 2019, Andhra Pradesh had only 11 government medical colleges, and despite being Chief Minister three times, Naidu didn’t set up any new ones. In contrast, during YSRCP’s five years in power, the government approved 17 new medical colleges. Out of these, five are already open and providing education, and admissions have started in another. If Naidu’s government had managed the process properly, 12 new colleges could already be up and running.
YS Jagan emphasized that when his government took charge, Andhra Pradesh had just 2,360 MBBS seats. Now, with the new colleges, nearly 2,550 additional seats are being created — almost doubling the total to nearly 4,910. Already, around 800 seats have been filled, and these colleges offer a major advantage: half of the seats are free, and the rest are offered at much lower fees than private colleges. This move helps poor and middle-class students access higher medical education without huge costs.
Jagan also accused Naidu of trying to block medical admissions by writing to the National Medical Council, including efforts to stall Pulivendula Medical College. He questioned why Naidu’s government was discouraging students from studying in Andhra Pradesh, especially when families are forced to sell assets or send children abroad to countries like Ukraine, Russia, and the Philippines for affordable MBBS seats.
On healthcare, Jagan claimed Naidu’s government has deliberately undermined the Arogyasri scheme. Over the past 15 months, only Rs 600 crore of nearly Rs 4,500 crore owed to hospitals has been paid, leaving around Rs 4,000 crore unpaid. The scheme, which provided free treatment for over 3,250 procedures up to Rs 25 lakh per family, has been neglected. The “Arogyasri Aasara” program, which offered Rs 5,000 monthly to patients during recovery, has also been stopped, with dues remaining unpaid.
Jagan accused Naidu of shifting the blame onto private insurance companies and spreading misinformation. He questioned the government’s ability to spend over Rs 5,000 crore on health premiums when it couldn’t even release Rs 3,600 crore for Arogyasri. He warned this could become a new scam.
He also warned that private insurers, driven by profit, cannot replace a government scheme like Arogyasri that provided free healthcare even during the COVID-19 pandemic. “Private health insurance won’t cover new diseases or emergencies in the future, leaving people helpless,” Jagan said. He alleged Naidu’s decisions are motivated only by profits for his associates under the pretext of health insurance.
This criticism comes as the Andhra Pradesh Cabinet recently announced a new universal health policy aimed at providing free healthcare to everyone. YS Jagan questioned whether private insurers can truly serve the public interest and warned that Naidu’s policies threaten the accessibility and affordability of healthcare for ordinary people.
