Dr Sambaiah Gundimeda, Associate Professor, Politics, SIAS has authored an essay titled Public Good or Private Gain? The Battle for Andhra’s Medical Colleges in Economic and Political Weekly, Vol 61, No 2 (2026).
Abstract
The controversy over the transfer of seventeen newly sanctioned government medical colleges in Andhra Pradesh to private operators under a Public–Private Partnership (PPP) model has ignited a broad-based movement cutting across political and social divides. At its core, the dispute raises fundamental questions about whether education and healthcare should remain rights of citizenship or be commodified for private profit. The article situates this conflict within the longer trajectory of N Chandrababu Naidu’s market-led PPP vision, contrasting it with YS Jagan Mohan Reddy’s welfare-driven public investment. By highlighting issues of redistribution, reservations, and democratic accountability, it argues that the battle is less about fiscal pragmatism and more about safeguarding the moral and constitutional compass of governance.
