Andhra Pradesh Super-Speciality Medicos Seek Stipend Hike on Par with Telangana

Visakhapatnam: Seeking a stipend hike, the super speciality medical students of Andhra Pradesh have demanded from the State Government to enhance the stipend and make it on par with that in Telangana.

There is a difference of around Rs 36,000 to Rs 40,000 in the amount of stipend that the Super-Speciality medical students receive in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

Calling it a gross discrepancy, the doctors have also pointed out how States like Odisha, Maharashtra and several others also pay a higher stipend to Super-Speciaity students. They have urged the State Government to look into the matter.

Last year, the State Government of Andhra Pradesh increased the stipend for super-speciality students. Changing the amount of stipend, the State had hiked the stipend for first-year students from Rs 48,973 to Rs 56,319, for the second-year students from Rs 51,422 to Rs 59,135 and for the third-year students from Rs 53,869 to Rs 61,949.

Despite this, there is a huge difference regarding the amount of stipend when compared with what the super-speciality medical students are receiving in Telangana. The State Government of Telangana pays Rs 92,575 to the first-year, Rs 97,204 to the second-year and Rs 1,01,829 to the third year students.

Also Read: Poor Stipend in Private Medical Colleges: NMC receives around 29k responses from MBBS, PG medicos, reveals RTI

Referring to this, the doctors are now demanding a stipend hike. Commenting on this, Dr. Jahangir, president of AP Super Speciality Post Graduate Doctors Association (Andhra Medical College), an affiliate of the AP Junior Doctor’s Association told The Hindu, “There is a gross discrepancy in the stipends being paid by the two Telugu speaking States and we request the Andhra Pradesh government to look into it favourably, as we are all resident super-speciality doctors, who are available at the teaching hospitals 24/7 for the entire three years of study.”

“We thank Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy for giving us some hike in the last year. But most of the super-speciality students are married and have children and with current inflation, they have been facing financial problems,” he mentioned.

“Not only there is a pay difference between both the Telugu speaking States, but even States such as Odisha, Maharashtra and many other States, the pay is more than that in Andhra Pradesh. We request the Chief Minister to intervene and do some justice,” he further added.

Only four medical colleges in Andhra Pradesh including Andhra Medical College (AMC) in Visakhapatnam, Rangaraya Medical College in Kakinada, Guntur Medical College (GMC) and Kurnool Medical College (KMC) offer super speciality courses, informed Dr. Sai Dileep of APSSPDA

There are around 120 super speciality seats available in the State and among them around 60 seats are in AMC. AMC, GMC and KMC have around 10 departments with super-speciality seats and another two departments offering super-specialisation are ar Rangaraya.

Last year, even the junior doctors of Andhra Pradesh had demanded a stipend hike by January 2023 to meet their financial needs. Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that the doctors had been raising their concerns about financial hardships for a long time. Earlier, they had demanded from the government a 42 percent hike in their stipends and had also issued a notice of strike on October 17 last year regarding the same. They had made the complaint that they were receiving less amount as compared to their counterparts in Telangana, Tamil Nadu, and other states.

After that, the government released a government order which increased the stipend of the doctors by 15 percent. The doctors then decided to terminate their strike and continue working.

Also Read:Andhra Pradesh Junior doctors to meet CM seeking stipend hike