Former Health Minister Vidadala Rajani, who was not seen in public after her defeat in Assembly elections, has suddenly surfaced on Wednesday accusing Chandrababu Naidu government of diluting Aarogyasri programme fearing that it will give credit to former chief minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy.
Her money power and misuse of official machinery failed to get her elected from Guntur city and after change of government she has reportedly attempted to join the ruling combination. As all the three coalition parties, TDP, Jana Sena and BJP refused to admit her, she seems to have finally decided to settle with YCP.
In order to reassert her `loyalty’ towards Jaganmohan Reddy, she has held a press conference and demanded clarity from Chandrababu’s government on their healthcare policies, emphasizing the need for transparency and continued support for Arogya Sri and related healthcare initiatives.
She alleged that the TDP-led government was attempting to downplay Arogya Sri in favour of Ayushman Bharat. However, she said that Ayushman Bharat covers only 60 lakh people in the state compared to Arogya Sri’s coverage of 1.42 crore families.
Furthermore, she said that Ayushman Bharat includes only 1,949 procedures compared to the 3,257 under Arogya Sri. She also pointed out that Ayushman Bharat covers upto Rs. 5 lakhs only, whereas Jagan Mohan Reddy’s government offered up to Rs. 25 lakhs free of cost under Arogya Sri.
Rajani said that during the YCP regime the Arogya Sri scheme has been significantly strengthened, increasing the number of procedures covered from 1,059 to 3,257 in the previous government.
She also pointed out that the annual expenditure on this scheme during the TDP regime was Rs. 1,000 crore, which has increased to approximately Rs. 4,100 crore under the YCP regime and also the network of Arogya Sri hospitals has expanded from less than 1,000 to over 2,300.
She also claimed that Jaganmohan Reddy has initiated significant healthcare reforms, including the introduction of 17 new medical colleges with an investment of Rs. 8,500 crore, aimed at strengthening medical education and healthcare infrastructure in the state.
She also recalled that the Family Doctor Concept, which was implemented to provide preventive care at the village level, ensuring accessible healthcare for all.
