Andhra junior doctors cut stipend demand to 20%, reject government’s 3% offer

Andhra junior doctors cut stipend demand to 20%, reject government's 3% offer APJUDA cuts its demand from a 30% biennial revision to 20%, rejects the government's 3% offer as inadequate, and seeks a hearing before the Chief Minister as the strike enters its tenth day.

Key points

• The association was responding to a press release issued by the Department of Health, Medical and Family Welfare on Wednesday, in which Health Secretary G.
• Junior doctors hold placards outside the Administration Siddhartha Medical College in Vijayawada on Thursday.
• In their statement, the junior doctors, senior residents and interns remarked a 15% rise in stipends would result in an extra annual expenditure of ₹87.91 crore.
• The doctors had been receiving a stipend hike of 15% once every two years until now, and had initially demanded that this be rose to 30%.
• In their 13-point statement, they remarked the proposed hike additionally failed to address the accumulated shortfall in stipend revision over the previous two years.

Junior doctors hold placards outside the Administration Siddhartha Medical College in Vijayawada on Thursday. They want a 30% stipend revision due since January 1; the administration has offered 3% for postgraduates and 5% for house surgeons. Emergency services have been withdrawn since August 17. Photo Credit: G.N. Rao.

For context, the 3% and 5% annual stipend hikes proposed by the State administration for junior doctors and interns are inadequate and unjustifiable, the Andhra Pradesh Junior Doctors' Association (APJUDA) stated in a late-night release on Wednesday (August 19, 2026), even as it scaled down its own demand from a 30% biennial revision to 20%.

Meanwhile, the association was responding to a press release issued by the Department of Health, Medical and Family Welfare on Wednesday, in which Health Secretary G. Veerapandian remarked the administration could not concede the protesting junior doctors' demand owing to the State's financial situation and proposed a 3% annual stipend hike. The doctors remarked the amount was too inadequate to compensate for the prevailing rate of inflation.

In their 13-point statement, they remarked the proposed hike additionally failed to address the accumulated shortfall in stipend revision over the previous two years. Given the financial situation, nevertheless, the doctors scaled down their initial demand for a biennial stipend hike of 30% to 20%.

In practice, the doctors had been receiving a stipend hike of 15% once every two years until now, and had initially demanded that this be rose to 30%. The administration, in its release, did not mention 30% anywhere, but continued to maintain that even the continuation of the 15% hike was not feasible.

In their statement, the junior doctors, senior residents and interns remarked a 15% rise in stipends would result in an extra annual expenditure of ₹87.91 crore. "This amount constitutes approximately 0.5% of the total Budget allocated to the health department in the Budget Estimates for 2026-27, and approximately 0.03% of the total State Budget for 2026-27, " they wrote.

They remarked it was disheartening that the State administration did not address their other two demands: strict adherence to National Medical Commission (NMC) regulations regarding the recruitment of MSc- and PhD-qualified candidates, and opposition to the proposed growth in the retirement age to 65 years.

In its release, the health department had remarked that increasing the stipend was not feasible additionally as Assistant Professors themselves received less. To that, the junior doctors remarked the Assistant Professors had not received the benefit of one Pay Revision Commission (PRC). It would otherwise have resulted in a further rise in their salaries.

In practice, the APJUDA asked the State administration for an opportunity to put forth its worries before the Chief Minister, the Deputy Chief Minister, the Finance Minister and the Health Minister. Until a resolution was reached, it remarked, the doctors would continue the strike, withdrawing from all emergency and non-emergency services.

On Wednesday night, candlelight rallies were taken out at plenty of administration hospitals in the State in opposition to the government's release. Rallies and demonstrations continued on Thursday (August 20, 2026), the tenth day of the strike and the fourth since emergency services were withdrawn.

In short, andhra junior doctors cut stipend demand to 20%, reject government's 3% offer is the central thread here, and readers can expect follow-up reporting as the picture becomes clearer.