VIJAYAWADA: Junior doctors in Andhra Pradesh are planning to meet Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy seeking a further hike in their stipend at least by January next to help them overcome their financial hardships.
These doctors had earlier served a strike notice to state government and even threatened to boycott emergency duties in case AP government fails in increasing their stipend by 43 percent. They complained that they are getting a much lesser stipend compared to their counterparts in Telangana, Tamil Nadu and other states.
However, state government hiked their stipend by 15 percent, following which they withdrew their strike notice and are continuing to work.
But junior doctors say the 15 percent hike is a major concern, especially for those pursuing first year super specialty courses and those doing their final year PG, both of whose stipend has been revised to ₹56,319 from existing ₹48,973.
The main concern of these doctors is financial hardships that they are facing. By the time a student completes his or her UG and PG in medicine and joins a super speciality course, he or she gets married. Some may even have kids to raise and aged parents to look after. The meagre pay causes them worry.
Junior doctors say students who complete their graduation or post-graduation in engineering and other professional courses get campus placements and job offers. They start earning handsome wages and settle down in life early.
But for doctors, it takes a very long time to complete their three years of super speciality courses and start earning money to support themselves and their dependents.
A junior doctor said, “We want to meet the Chief Minister and request him to revise our stipend once again, effective from January, 2023. This will boost our morale, as despite the 15 percent hike in stipend, we are still getting less stipend when compared to our counterparts in the neighbouring states.”
