Junior doctors across Andhra Pradesh have called off their ongoing strike following the intervention of the Andhra Pradesh High Court, which directed them to resume duties immediately and asked the state government to address their demands within two weeks.

A division bench comprising Chief Justice Lisa Gill and Justice Chall Gunaranjan heard the matter for the second consecutive day, in response to a Public Interest Litigation filed by social activist Guduri Venkata Ratna Kumar. Counsel for the petitioner told the court that junior doctors had stopped attending even emergency healthcare services since August 17, causing significant hardship to patients at government hospitals.

The petitioner’s counsel also referred to National Medical Commission norms, noting that absence from duty for two consecutive days could be treated as serious indiscipline, potentially resulting in debarment or cancellation of registration. The court commended the junior doctors for calling off the strike, stating they had made the right decision.

Counsel representing the junior doctors told the court that the doctors had submitted multiple representations to the state government seeking a stipend hike and other demands, but had not received an adequate response — which ultimately led them to go on strike.

After hearing both sides, the court directed the junior doctors to report back to duty immediately, warning that it would issue further directions if they failed to comply. The doctors were asked to respond by the afternoon, while the state government was directed to resolve their reasonable demands within two weeks.

Background: A 15-Day Strike Over Stipend Demands

The strike, led by the Andhra Pradesh Junior Doctors’ Association (APJUDA), began in a phased manner on August 11 with a time-bound withdrawal of non-emergency services, before escalating into a full boycott of emergency services from August 17 amid the absence of any written assurance from the government.

At its peak, close to 9,000 doctors — including resident doctors, medical interns, junior residents, super-speciality postgraduates, senior residents, and doctors under the District Residency Programme (DRP) — stayed away from duties, disrupting Intensive Care Units, casualty wards, and labour rooms across all 19 government medical colleges in the state.

With the strike now called off, healthcare services at government hospitals across Andhra Pradesh are expected to gradually return to normal, even as the state government works to address the doctors’ pending demands within the court-mandated timeline.