Rajamahendravaram: CPM State Secretary V Srinivasa Rao has warned that the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model being followed by the State Government for managing medical colleges is more dangerous than outright privatisation. He announced that the party would soon launch a broad platform to protect government medical colleges.

Speaking at a press conference at the Rajahmundry Press Club on Monday, Rao demanded that the 2023 CBI report, which exposed large-scale irregularities in private medical colleges across the country, be made public.

Questioning the government’s decision to halt the construction of medical colleges after 2024A, he said that the previous government had built six medical colleges in three years. He urged the present government to prove its efficiency by completing 12 colleges in the next three years.

The CPM leader alleged that the cost of a medical seat in the convenor quota, which was earlier around Rs 15,000, is now expected to shoot up to Rs 12 lakh, becoming a huge burden on common people.

He warned that once the PPP model is implemented, even the hospital beds attached to government medical colleges would come under private management.

Refuting the government’s claims of creating 4.75 lakh jobs, he said the figure was far from reality.

He pointed out that 5,000 contract workers had lost their jobs at Visakhapatnam Steel Plant, and IT giant TCS, which had acquired government land at a low cost, had recently laid off 20,000 employees.

He demanded the government to immediately fill the 2.5 lakh vacant posts in various departments to provide hope to unemployed youth.

CPM district secretary T Arun, district committee members B Pavan, Juvvala Rambabu, B Poornima Raju, and I Subrahmanyam were also present.