“We will not settle for the poor quality of health care and medical facilities that the poor are entitled to,” added the Chief Minister of the state, Chandrababu Naidu. He clarified that the model they are using—the Public Private Partnership model—is already operational in the entire country. There was no reason for them to be shy about it. “I direct all concerned authorities to expedite the tendering process for establishing medical colleges on the Public Private Partnership model concept so that the poor get corporate standards of health care,” he said.
Medical and Health Department Review
- The Chief Minister took stock of the Medical and Health Department at the Secretariat on Wednesday. During the meeting, he asked the bureaucracy to negate the negative propaganda about PPP. He also directed that the VGF support and other incentives should be provided to the medical colleges being established under the PPP format as per the guidelines of the Central Government.
- He was made aware about the policies that were required to be followed by the Central Government for the hospitals and medical colleges in the PPP mode. It was explained to him that for the purposes of social projects/\Health Projects, the funding ratio will be shared equally with regard to the 60% funding structure pertaining to the VGF scheme.The Center and State will share 30% each.
- They also made it a point to assure the Chief Minister that similar projects have already been cleared in other states like Arunachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, and Uttar Pradesh by the Department of Economic Affairs. They also added that the Central Government is promoting the PPP model in the growth of the health infrastructure in the country.
Tendering Process to be Speeded Up
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There are updates on the Chief Minister in respect of the status of tenders received in connection with the first phase of medical colleges in Adoni, Madanapalle, Markapuram, and Pulivendula. The deadline to submit tenders has been fixed on September 18. Six national and foreign firms will be there in two prebid meetings.
- The bidders were asked for more time to identify project locations. Four companies asked for more information. The requirements accepted by the government include land distribution up to 50 acres; flexibility in design requirements; and other technical requirements. Additional design flexibility was given to the bidders according to National Medical Commission guidelines. The government further loosened the restriction on the number of partners in a consortium from two to three.
- One of the companies that have manifested their keenness to establish a medical college at Adoni is identified. The Chief Minister called for a commitment to be met between one of these companies to establish one such medical college.
- He also requested that negotiations take place with other companies to hasten processing of their tenders for other medical colleges to be built.
Review of Sanjeevani Digital Health Project
The Chief Minister stated that two other medical colleges would soon start functioning at G Review of Sanjeevani Digital Health Project He also discussed the Sanjeevani project which provides medical cards to all citizens digitally. He asked them to update the plans and ensure that the implementation goes in the right direction. He asked them about the pilot project for Kuppam and instructed them to sort out issues faced in Kuppam. He also instructed them to implement the project for the whole district of Chittoor after sorting out the issues.
