Palasa (Srikakulam): YSRCP accused the coalition government of ‘putting the state on sale’ through its privatisation policies. The party has specifically criticised the decision to privatise state hospitals, with former minister Seediri Appalraju vowing tofight that move ‘tooth and nail.’ Speaking to reporters here on Saturday, Appalraju slammed ministers for attempting to mislead the public with what he called “fake pictures” and power-point presentations to justify the privatisation of hospitals. He singled out home minister V Anitha, stating that her presentation used misleading visuals to promote the controversial policy.

Appalraju re-interpreted the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model, calling it “pay per project” and alleging that the decision to hand over hospitals to private entities is “steeped in corruption.” He warned that all such “anti-poor” policies would be reversed if YSRCP president YS Jagan Mohan Reddy returns to power. According to Appalraju, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has a history of pursuing privatisation for personal gain, citing past examples of medicare, roads, and tourism departments being given to private players. “Putting all infrastructures into private hands shows the inefficiency of the government and its greed for kickbacks,” he said. Appalraju also addressed the replacement of the Aarogyasri health scheme with an insurance model, stating that this would also distance quality healthcare from poorer sections of society. He asserted that retainingAarogyasri would be more cost-effective for the government, as the premium is less than theannual expenditure on the scheme.