BJP Telangana president N. Ramchander Rao on Wednesday demanded that stipends for AYUSH postgraduate doctors and house surgeons be increased on par with those of their Allopathy counterparts and that the enhanced stipends, along with pending arrears, be released immediately.
Mr. Rao visited the relay hunger strike camp of AYUSH (Ayurveda, Unani and Homeopathy) postgraduate medical students and house surgeons at B.R.K.R. Government Ayurvedic College and Hospital at Erragadda. The students and house surgeons have been demanding a hike in stipends and have been continuing their protest for the last 16 days. He expressed solidarity with the striking AYUSH doctors on behalf of the BJP.
Later, speaking to the media, he accused the Congress government of discriminating against AYUSH medical students. He pointed out that a Government Order (GO) issued in 2006 in the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh provided for equal treatment of students of the Indian Systems of Medicine and Allopathy. However, he said it was regrettable that stipend parity had not been implemented in Telangana after the formation of the State.
The BJP leader said that while the neighbouring Andhra Pradesh government pays a monthly stipend of ₹60,000 to AYUSH postgraduate students and ₹25,000 to house surgeons, the Telangana government pays only ₹30,000 to postgraduate students and ₹13,000 to house surgeons.
Mr. Rao said the Narendra Modi government had created a dedicated Ministry of AYUSH to promote all streams of medicine equally. He questioned why Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy and other Congress leaders, who had earlier demanded equal stipends for AYUSH doctors on the floor of the Assembly during the previous BRS regime, were now neglecting the issue.
Open debate
In a separate press conference at the BJP State office, Legislature Party Floor Leader A. Maheshwar Reddy alleged that Revenue Minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy was evading responsibility in the controversial 22-A land registration issue despite being linked to questionable land transactions. He demanded that the Minister come clean on the allegations.
Mr. Maheshwar Reddy challenged the Revenue Minister to an open debate on the alleged land transactions at the Assembly media point between 12 noon and 12.20 p.m. on Thursday. He warned that all relevant evidence would be submitted to the Enforcement Directorate (ED), the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and other investigating agencies.
Published – August 19, 2026 09:21 pm IST
