YSRCP stages statewide protests over fee reimbursement, job promises

The YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) staged statewide protests on Wednesday under the banner of 'Yuvatha Poru' (youth agitation), with party leaders, activists, and students demonstrating across Andhra Pradesh.

The protesters demanded the immediate disbursement of pending fee reimbursement funds and opposed the proposed privatisation of medical colleges, as well as the delay in implementing the Rs 3,000 unemployment allowance.

"Even children are suffering because of the government's negligence," said YSRCP chief Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy while speaking in Tadepalli.

He added that fee reimbursement requires Rs 2,800 crore annually, but only Rs 700 crore has been allocated.

The government is merely clearing last year’s dues while pushing this year’s burden to the next, Jagan claimed.

Similarly, he pointed out that promises made to women, including Rs 1,500 in monthly aid and free bus travel, remain unfulfilled.

He criticised the NDA government for "failing to deliver on its commitments, leaving students and women in distress".

Overcoming obstacles, youth and students, along with YSRCP cadres, have issued the first warning to Chandrababu Naidu with the ‘grand success’ of the protest, Jagan Mohan Reddy said.

In a post on 'X', he condemned the high-handedness of the police against youth and students in various locations and said the agitation serves as a warning to the coalition government.

YSRCP leaders vowed to continue protests until the government fulfils its promises.

Jagan criticised the government for failing to deliver on its promise of providing 20 lakh jobs and Rs 3,000 per month as an unemployment allowance.

He alleged that not a single rupee was allocated for unemployment benefits in the last two budgets, leaving each unemployed youth with Rs 72,000 in arrears.

Jagan further accused the government of privatising newly established government medical colleges, making medical education "inaccessible to economically weaker students and denying free healthcare to the poor".

He questioned whether such large-scale protests by students, unemployed youth, and parents had ever been seen before Naidu’s government took office.

He praised those who participated in the protest and promised that the YSRCP would continue to support students and unemployed individuals facing hardship under the current administration.

Meanwhile, protests in several districts saw confrontations between YSRCP activists and police, with arrests reported in Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam.

Former minister Gudivada Amarnath criticised the government's inaction since the formation of the NDA government, stating, "Ever since the NDA formed the government, we have observed that they have done nothing. In December, we raised questions on three key issues—agriculture, paddy procurement, and electricity. Instead, the government has burdened the public with Rs 15,000 crore in additional costs."

In this budget (FY26), not even a rupee was allocated for the Rs 3,000 per month promised to unemployed youth during the elections, he said, demanding that the due amount be given to students.

A woman protester in Vijayawada alleged, "This government has taken us back 10 years, showing us true atrocities. Students are dying because they can't afford fee, suffering mentally, and being turned away from government offices."

She questioned, "Y S Rajasekhara Reddy showed how to govern, and Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy followed his path, but in these 10 months under Naidu's governance, who has benefited."

"Naidu, you always talk about building a capital—will it be built on the corpses of students? Under your rule, we are the living dead," the protester claimed.