Junior doctors hold placards at a protest in Vijayawada. File
| Photo Credit: G.N. Rao
The Health, Medical and Family Welfare Department, Andhra Pradesh, has fixed the annual stipend hike for medical students at 3.5%, the figure at the centre of the junior doctors’ strike. The Government Order was issued late on Monday (September 21, 2026), nearly a month after the doctors called off the strike.
G.O. Ms. No. 141, signed by Principal Secretary G. Veerapandian, provides for a uniform annual hike of 3.5% from January 1, 2027, for all medical students, including interns, junior doctors and senior residents. For the current year, from January 1, 2026, the government fixed the enhancement at 10% for MBBS and Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) interns and at 5% for postgraduate, super-speciality, MDS and Diplomate of National Board (DNB) students.
The order ends, on the government’s terms, a dispute that began when the revision due from January 1 under a 2009 order, which provides for a biennial increase of about 15%, did not come through. The Andhra Pradesh Junior Doctors’ Association (APJUDA) sought 30%, citing two years’ inflation and heavier workloads; the government offered 3% a year for postgraduates and 5% for interns during the strike. Monday’s order gives postgraduates two percentage points more than that offer for this year and lifts the annual increase from 3% to 3.5%.
Talks between the State government and the APJUDA stalled several times during the strike in August because the association opposed the 3% annual hike proposed by the government. The strike was called off on August 25 after the High Court ordered the State government to address the doctors’ concerns within two weeks.
An expert committee was constituted to examine the issue and hold discussions with the APJUDA. The committee met on August 27 and September 3. According to the G.O., the committee had initially recommended a stipend hike of 10% for MBBS and BDS interns and 4% for postgraduate, super-speciality, MDS and DNB students for 2026, followed by an annual enhancement of 3% from January 1, 2027.
The government examined the proposal and decided to fix the hike at 10% for MBBS and BDS interns and 5% for junior doctors, senior residents, MDS and DNB students for the current year, and a uniform annual hike of 3.5% for all these groups from next year.
The APJUDA said in a statement that it was disappointed and asked the government to reconsider the order. The association said it did not accept the revision and that the decision had been taken unilaterally, without an agreement or the association’s acceptance of the final percentage and terms.
Published – September 22, 2026 03:45 pm IST
