Network hospitals shut services for 5 days, yet Chandrababu govt plays blind as patients suffer and medical colleges head for privatisation
- Over Rs. 3,000 crore in arrears deliberately piled up as revenge
- Network hospitals launch strike; 5 days passed with zero response from the government
- Arogyasri services completely halted; poor people left in agony
- No serious talks held , just a drama of empty assurances
- A scheme that is the lifeline for 1.5 crore families is collapsing, and there is no one in power to care
- 17 medical colleges pushed towards privatisation
- Village Clinics rendered powerless; Naadu-Nedu programme vanished from hospitals
- No Family Doctor concept; hospitals have no WHO-GMP category medicines
- Chandrababu government is systematically destroying the healthcare sector
The Chandrababu government has declared open war on Arogyasri, the only healthcare lifeline for 1.5 crore poor families in the state. Despite network hospitals striking for the past five days demanding the immediate release of over Rs. 3,000 crore in pending dues, the government has shown zero interest. Arogyasri services have come to a grinding halt, forcing the poor to suffer terribly, yet the government is merely watching the spectacle. In a planned and deliberate manner, it is destroying the entire healthcare system.
Rs. 3,000+ crore in arrears
The Chandrababu government is clearly working to cripple Arogyasri. It seems the government has no interest in providing quality healthcare to the poor. That is why it is systematically weakening the medical sector by piling up Rs. 3,000 crore in dues to network hospitals. Doctors and hospital managements have taken to the streets saying, “We cannot provide treatment anymore, sir.” Even after five full days of the strike, the government has not held any meaningful talks , it is merely giving vague assurances. Hospital managements have completely stopped services in protest, but the government is acting as if nothing has happened.
Poor patients in deep distress
With hospitals shutting down services, patients are facing extreme hardship. Yet the government continues to behave as if it has nothing to do with it. On the very first day of the strike, the government held a token meeting with the AP Speciality Hospitals Association (ASHA) and then washed its hands of the issue. Even though the association made it clear on the same day that they would continue the strike unless dues were cleared, the government has shown no interest in holding further talks. People are asking: Is this not a clear sign that the government is sleeping on the issue? Is this not like “rain falling on a buffalo”, completely ineffective?
While Arogyasri services are stopped and patients are suffering, Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu and Health Minister Satya Kumar are busy with private programmes and election campaigning in Kerala. Severe criticism is pouring in from all sides.
Grudge against 1.5 crore families
When services of a scheme that supports 1.40 crore poor and middle-class families are halted, there is not even a single responsible person in the government to address it, patients are angrily pointing out. Critics say this kind of revenge against healthcare for the poor is happening only under Chandrababu’s rule. The government has not allocated adequate funds for Arogyasri in the budget. People are questioning how free medical treatment can be provided in such a situation.
The real picture of arrears
In just two years, the Chandrababu government has created Rs. 3,150 crore in arrears for Arogyasri. For the financial year 2026–27, the scheme needs Rs. 330 crore per month, Rs. 4,000 crore for the full year. Adding the pending Rs. 3,150 crore, a total of Rs. 7,150 crore is required. But the government has allocated only Rs. 4,000 crore in the budget. In reality, every year the actual expenditure never crosses even Rs. 2,000 crore.
Medical colleges being privatised
On the other side, the very medical colleges that the government itself started constructing are now being handed over to private parties under the PPP (Public-Private Partnership) model. People are asking: What is the real intention behind handing over colleges built with public money to private hands? Is this for public service or purely for private profit?
During the previous YSRCP government led by YS Jagan, 17 new medical colleges were sanctioned with an investment of Rs. 8,480 crore. Out of these, 5 colleges have been completed and 750 MBBS seats have already become operational. Several others are in advanced stages. Now the government is conspiring to hand them over to private entities.
Dreams of poor students shattered
Government medical colleges mean low-fee seats for poor students to become doctors. Once these colleges go to private hands, fees will skyrocket into lakhs and crores. MBBS will become an unreachable dream for poor students. If government seats decrease, the dream of poor students to become doctors will be completely shattered. In the long run, the state will face a severe shortage of doctors. Rural healthcare services will collapse. Poor people will be forced to depend entirely on corporate hospitals. If government medical colleges are privatised, treatment costs will shoot up dramatically because private hospitals work only for profit, not for service. Without government competition, poor families will be pushed into debt traps for medical treatment, and some may even lose their lives.
Already, on the call of YSRCP president YS Jagan, a massive “One Crore Signatures” campaign was successfully conducted against the privatisation of medical colleges. Even though crores of people opposed it, this anti-people government is not ready to back down. People are asking: Is this not an insult to democracy?
Is there any sense of responsibility?
Providing quality education and healthcare is the fundamental duty of any government. No family should be forced to sell its assets to educate its children or to get medical treatment. But the Chandrababu government is not even thinking about this responsibility. The previous YSRCP government brought revolutionary reforms in education and health sectors, recognising their importance. It started constructing 17 medical colleges with an outlay of Rs. 8,480 crore with the goal of having one medical college in every parliamentary constituency. Some have been completed, others are progressing rapidly. People are asking: How does this cause any loss to the government?
Naadu-Nedu works blown away
The Naadu-Nedu programme in hospitals and schools has completely disappeared. Zero-vacancy policy has been thrown to the winds. Instead of completing the 17 new medical colleges, the government has stopped them and is planning to sell them off through scams. There is no Family Doctor. Village Clinics have been made powerless. The situation of WHO-GMP category medicines in hospitals is unknown to even God. Even ordinary medicines are not available. This is how bad the hospitals have become under Chandrababu’s rule. The Chandrababu government has failed spectacularly in the health sector.
