The Andhra Pradesh government has issued clarifications following confusion and controversy surrounding the public-private partnership (PPP) tender process for completing medical colleges sanctioned during the previous YSRCP regime.
As part of the coalition government’s decision to complete pending medical colleges through the PPP model, tenders were invited for four institutions located in Adoni, Pulivendula, Madanapalle and Markapur.
However, only the Adoni Medical College reportedly received a bid, triggering political and administrative debate. During a recent review meeting with chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu, officials informed him that a bid for the Adoni Medical College had been submitted by KIMS Hospital, a well-known healthcare group in the Telugu states.
This led to widespread belief that KIMS had stepped forward to execute the project. However, KIMS Hospital subsequently issued a clarification, stating that it had neither submitted a bid nor intended to participate in the Adoni Medical College project.
The denial placed the government in an embarrassing position and raised questions over the tender process. Responding to the controversy, state health minister Satya Kumar Yadav on Saturday explained that the issue arose due to a “communication gap.”
He stated that the tender had been submitted in the name of an individual, Dr Prem Chand Shah, who works as a doctor at KIMS Hospital. Officials mistakenly assumed that the bid was submitted by KIMS itself, he said.
“The tender was submitted by a person employed at KIMS, not by the institution. That is why we believed it was a KIMS bid,” the minister clarified, adding that KIMS Hospital had indeed not submitted any bid for the medical college project.
The coalition government’s decision to complete medical colleges through the PPP route continues to face criticism from opposition parties. The fact that an individual doctor submitted a bid to build a medical college has further intensified scrutiny of the tender process.