Amaravati, Andhra Pradesh: Former Chief Minister and YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) leader Jagan Mohan Reddy on Thursday reaffirmed his government’s commitment to students in government schools, asserting that the administration implemented progressive reforms even though it knew these students “didn’t have votes.” Speaking at a meeting of the YSRCP youth wing at the party’s central office in Tadepalli, Reddy highlighted the initiatives undertaken by his government between 2019 and 2024 to improve education and healthcare for underprivileged communities.

Addressing party workers and youth leaders, Jagan Mohan Reddy emphasized that true leadership involves standing by vulnerable citizens, even when political gains are limited. “Students may not have votes, yet we stood by them. That is real leadership,” he said. To illustrate this, Reddy pointed to a series of measures introduced under his administration, which aimed to enhance the quality of education in government schools. These included the introduction of English-medium education, TOEFL classes starting from the third standard, the distribution of Oxford dictionaries to students, and providing tablets from the eighth standard.

Reddy further highlighted flagship schemes like ‘Nadu-Nedu,’ aimed at modernizing school infrastructure; ‘Amma Vodi,’ providing financial assistance to mothers for children’s education; and ‘Jagananna Gorumudda,’ a mid-day meal program that ensured children from economically weaker sections had access to nutritious meals. According to Reddy, these programs collectively helped prevent school dropouts and improved learning outcomes, ensuring that no poor child was left behind.

Turning his attention to healthcare, Reddy condemned what he described as the alleged privatisation of government medical colleges under the current Andhra Pradesh government. He noted that the state had only 12 medical colleges over a period of 96 years, but during YSRCP’s five-year tenure, 17 additional colleges were established. Out of these, seven had been completed and three operationalized, adding 2,550 MBBS seats for aspiring medical students. “Selling colleges is not policy, it is plunder,” he remarked, criticizing the NDA-led state government for policies that, according to him, restrict access to affordable education and healthcare.

As part of the YSRCP’s campaign against the alleged privatisation of government medical colleges, Reddy announced a series of political actions. A one-crore signature campaign and rallies have been scheduled for November 12, and a larger agitation focusing on fee reimbursement issues is planned for December. He called upon the party’s youth leaders to establish committees down to the village level to “give a democratic shock to the anti-student regime,” urging them to mobilize communities in defense of accessible education.

YSRCP leaders also criticized Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu’s government, describing it as “arrogant, anti-people, and destructive.” They alleged that the NDA alliance government is dismantling the reforms introduced by the previous administration, pushing the state toward socio-economic decline. According to the party, the current regime has undone measures in both education and healthcare, including scrapping English-medium education and weakening the public school system, thereby making quality education and healthcare less accessible to the poor.

The party also stressed the rapid pace of development achieved under Reddy’s leadership, claiming that initiatives in public education that took a decade to achieve in Delhi were accomplished in just three years in Andhra Pradesh, despite the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Former minister and YSRCP leader P Venkatramaiah additionally announced that Reddy will undertake a Praja Sankalpa Yatra in 2027, aiming to engage directly with citizens and strengthen the party’s outreach efforts.

A press release from YSRCP reiterated that during Reddy’s tenure, 16,000 schools were modernized and 17 government medical colleges established to ensure equity and access. The party argued that these reforms demonstrated a commitment to inclusive governance and social justice, contrasting sharply with the policies of the current state administration.

As of Thursday, there was no immediate response from the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) regarding the former chief minister’s statements or the planned political campaigns.