During his tenure as Chief Minister, Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy envisioned establishing 17 medical colleges in 17 parliamentary constituencies.
Since medical colleges are always attached to full-fledged teaching hospitals with surgical facilities and advanced equipment, Jagan believed this initiative would serve dual purposes, providing quality healthcare to citizens and reducing the financial burden of the Aarogyasri scheme on the state exchequer.
The idea was both ambitious and beneficial. 17 new government hospitals of high standards would have greatly strengthened public healthcare.
Additionally, to sustain these institutions, Jagan proposed selling a limited number of MBBS seats under the college quota. This, he argued, would generate revenue while still ensuring a majority of seats remained affordable.
However, the plan faltered due to weak projection and poor promotion. The government failed to highlight the long term benefits of such an initiative. Despite its potential, the vision was not communicated effectively to the public or policymakers.
With the change in regime, Jagan’s dream faced a major setback. Under Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, the model has been shifted to a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) framework.
This effectively places medical education and hospital infrastructure in private hands. As a result, the state continues to rely heavily on Aarogyasri for medical expenses, while private institutions profit from selling MBBS seats at high prices.
Moreover, private colleges often demand government support for equipment and maintenance, despite earning substantial revenue. Instead of reinvesting in healthcare infrastructure, much of the profit remains with private players.
This dual burden of funding Aarogyasri and supporting private hospitals, ultimately falls on the state exchequer.
Thus, what could have been a transformative step for public health has been diluted into another profit-driven system, leaving Jagan’s dream of strong, government led medical infrastructure unfulfilled.