Why Andhra’s plan to bring 61 govt hospitals under PPP model is drawing flak

Amid growing debate over the quality and reach of public healthcare, the Andhra Pradesh government has announced a major restructuring of smaller hospitals through the PPP model.

The state’s health department is set to bring 61 constituency-level hospitals — each with fewer than 50 beds — under this model, developing them into 100-bed multi-specialty facilities.

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Health Minister Satyakumar Yadav made this announcement in the Assembly while responding to members who sought upgrades in areas such as Allagadda, Vayalpadu, Kovvur, and Kovur. He also said the government would set up trauma centres with support from the central government.

However, the move has drawn flak, given that 10 medical colleges have already been brought under the PPP model. Opposition parties and civil society groups warn that healthcare is being turned into a business.

Infrastructure gap in numbers

According to central health ministry data from March 2023, Andhra Pradesh's government hospitals — spanning PHCs, CHCs, sub-district and district hospitals, and medical colleges — had a total of 35,695 beds.

By November 2025, the addition of Critical Care Blocks in 24 hospitals added 1,275 more beds, with the total expected to reach 37,000 by February 2026.

Of the 175 Assembly segments, 70 already have hospitals with 100 or more beds. The remaining 105 include 44 hospitals with 50–99 beds and 61 with fewer than 50 — the ones now being targeted for PPP conversion.

Acute specialist shortage

Around 12,000 doctors work in state government hospitals. While 227 specialists have recently been appointed across 142 secondary hospitals, vacancies among specialists remain acute — particularly in rural areas, where the overall vacancy rate is around 30%.

The specialist shortage in Andhra Pradesh stands at roughly 70%, compared to 80% nationally. The government is trying to bridge this gap through an in-service PG quota of 272 seats.

Concerns over PPP expansion

Healthcare experts have raised serious concerns over the expansion of the PPP model. Former Union Health Secretary Kanur Sujatha Rao warned: "PPP in medical education is unsustainable. It dismantles the public health system and stunts its natural long-term development."

Former Andhra Pradesh Special Chief Secretary Dr PV Ramesh was blunter: "The PPP model puts the health security of six crore people at risk. Healthcare is a constitutional right — the government must protect it, not outsource it."

Political opposition has been equally vocal. YSRCP president and former Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy called it "a massive scandal", saying, "Handing over public medical colleges to private parties under the PPP label is nothing but looting public money. It will price out the poor and middle class from both medical education and treatment."

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CPI central assistant secretary K Ramakrishna echoed this: "PPP is privatisation by another name. Handing over government land and hospitals to private players for 60 years is a blow to social justice. Free treatment for the poor will become a thing of the past."

Compared to other southern states, Andhra Pradesh already lags on health indices. Critics fear the PPP route will only accelerate healthcare's drift towards commercialisation — at the expense of those who can least afford it.

(This article was originally published in The Federal Andhra Pradesh.)