Junior doctors staging a protest before calling off their strike in Vijayawada on Tuesday.
| Photo Credit: G.N. RAO
Andhra Pradesh Junior Doctors’ Association (APJUDA) has called off the strike on the 16th day on Tuesday, August 25, after the Andhra Pradesh High Court ordered the State government to address the doctors’ concerns within the next two weeks.APJUDA president U. Eswar Shankar told The Hindu that all the protesting doctors would resume their duties from August 26 in accordance with the High Court order, which is yet to be uploaded online.The order came after an individual, Guduri Venkata Ravindra Kumar, hailing of Singarayakonda of Prakasam district, filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) on August 24, with a prayer for issuance of a Writ of Mandamus directing the State government to ensure uninterrupted medical services and to maintain an ‘effective contingency and alternative staffing mechanim so that patients are not compelled to suffer on account of any dispute between the medical personnel and the government’.The case came up for hearing on Monday before the Bench comprising Chief Justice Lisa Gill and the order came on Tuesday.A delegation of doctors met Minister for Health, Medical and Family Welfare Satya Kumar Yadav and Health Secretary G. Veerapandian at the Secretariat on Tuesday.The Minister, while thanking the doctors for calling off the strike, assured them that the government was positive towards their demands.The Minister said that the government was yet to take any final decision on increasing the retirement age, adding that the officials had only examined the issue in view of the shortage of doctors.“The government will now reconsider the matter,” the Minister said.Regarding their main demand for a hike in stipend, the Minister said a special committee, headed by Mr. Veerapandian, had been constituted.The committee would meet the APJUDA representatives within the next two days and discuss the issue at length and come to a conclusion, keeping in mind the financial constraints and the doctors’ concerns, the Minister said.Mr. Satya Kumar Yadav said the government would also reconsider the proposal to appoint candidates with MSc and PhD qualifications to non-clinical departments. He said that no final decision had been taken on the issue so far.The strike continued for 16 days, during which the doctors had withdrawn from emergency services, effective August 17. While more than 9,000 doctors across the State took part in the strike, the government had appointed 289 private doctors in hospitals falling under the purview of the Directorate of Public Health and 190 doctors in the Directorate of Secondary Health to ensure that the delivery of health services was not affected. Published - August 25, 2026 08:59 pm IST
