AYUSH Doctors' Hunger Strike: Stipend Parity Demand Grips Telangana

On the 11th day of an indefinite strike that has paralysed outpatient and inpatient services across five government AYUSH colleges in Telangana, more than 1,000 house surgeons and postgraduate scholars at the Dr. B.R.K.R. Government Ayurvedic Medical College in Erragadda have escalated their protest to a hunger strike at Dharna Chowk, Hyderabad. The core demand is stark: AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, and Homoeopathy) doctors are paid Rs 13,754 per month as house surgeons while their allopathy counterparts receive Rs 29,792 — a disparity of 116 percent that protesters say has persisted since stipends were last revised a decade ago.

Telangana's AYUSH Stipend Crisis: 6,000 Doctors on Hunger Strike Demand Parity, Arrears, and a 'Green Channel' for Payments

Hyderabad, Telangana – August 14, 2026 — The India Today video report (premiered August 13, 2026) captured the scene at Indira Park's Dharna Chowk where postgraduate doctors like Dr Nazia Begum, Tanushree, and Dr Bashir framed the protest not as a demand for charity but for constitutional equality. "This is not merely about money," one protester told the India Today segment, "but about dignity, equality, and the implementation of government orders pending since 2016." The strike, launched on August 4, 2026, by the Telangana AYUSH House Surgeons and Postgraduates Joint Action Committee (AYUSH HS&PG-JAC), now involves approximately 6,000 doctors across five institutions, including the Konijeti Rosaiah Government Nature Cure Hospital in Begumpet, the Government Nizamia Unani Hospital near Charminar, and the Ananthalakshmi Government Ayurvedic Medical College in Warangal.

The Data Behind the Disparity — A 116 Percent Pay Gap

The numbers, verified across multiple sources including The Hindu and Telangana Today, paint a clear picture of systemic inequity. AYUSH house surgeons in Telangana receive Rs 13,754 per month, while allopathic house surgeons earn Rs 29,792 — a gap of Rs 16,038. For postgraduate scholars, the disparity widens further: AYUSH PGs earn between Rs 30,947 and Rs 34,385, while allopathy PGs receive Rs 67,032 to Rs 74,782. Dr Anurag Singh, vice-president of the Telangana State Ayurveda PG and House Surgeons Association, provided the historical context in the August 14 Telangana Today report: "The stipends for Allopathy students were revised eight times in the last 15 years, but for AYUSH house surgeons and PG scholars, it was done only thrice."

The stagnation traces back to a specific policy failure. GO Ms No. 77, issued in 2009, mandated equal stipends for house surgeons of both streams and stipulated that AYUSH postgraduate scholars and house surgeons should be paid Rs 30,000 per month on par with their allopathic counterparts — an order the JAC says has never been fully implemented. Yet as of August 2026, the actual disbursement remains at the 2016-fixed level of Rs 13,500 for house surgeons — a figure that JAC joint secretary Dr Rohith Basre told reporters in Warangal on July 22, 2026, "was fixed in 2016 and has not been revised despite the rising cost of living."

What This Means for India — Beyond Telangana's Borders

This is not an isolated Telangana problem. The strike exposes a national pattern of discrimination against traditional medicine practitioners that contradicts the Government of India's stated policy of promoting AYUSH systems under the Ministry of Ayush. Ayushman Bharat, the flagship health insurance scheme, explicitly includes AYUSH services at Health and Wellness Centres, and the Ministry of Ayush has campaigned extensively for traditional medicine integration. Yet the National Commission for Indian System of Medicine (NCISM), the statutory regulator, has had to repeatedly clarify that registered AYUSH practitioners are legally qualified and cannot be dismissed as 'quacks' — a stigma that protesters argue extends to their compensation.

The comparison with neighbouring Andhra Pradesh is instructive. Post-bifurcation in 2014, Andhra Pradesh has maintained parity: AYUSH house surgeons there earn Rs 26,000 per month, equal to their allopathy counterparts, and AYUSH PGs receive up to Rs 64,767. In Telangana, the same doctors earn less than half that amount. As one student at the Charminar protest told Siasat on August 4: "Till Andhra and Telangana were together, they had funds to pay us... Andhra scholars get a stipend of Rs 60,000 while we get Rs 30,000." Delhi and Uttar Pradesh pay AYUSH PGs in excess of Rs 95,000 per month, according to the August 14 Telangana Today report.

The Human Cost — Doctors Healing Patients While Their Own Wounds Fester

The strike's impact on healthcare delivery is measurable. At the Dr. B.R.K.R. Government Ayurvedic Medical College in Erragadda — the oldest Ayurvedic hospital in Telangana — approximately 1,000 house surgeons and PG scholars have stepped away from routine work, including inpatient duties. Undergraduate AYUSH students have also joined the protest, signalling a generational shift in expectations. Dr Rajesh Kalyan, JAC president, articulated the emotional toll in the August 14 report: "We spend our days healing patients, but who heals our mental exhaustion? We have made numerous representations but nobody bothered to listen to our plight."

The protesters' demands are specific and quantifiable: immediate stipend parity with arrears calculated from January 1, 2026; a streamlined 'Green Channel' for monthly disbursement to end persistent salary delays; and revival of the pre-2016 system where stipends increased by 15 percent every two years. The JAC submitted more than 60 representations to the Telangana government over the past two years, according to a student at the Charminar protest, with no substantive response. A 15-day strike notice was served on July 22, 2026, at the Anantha Lakshmi Government Ayurvedic Teaching Hospital in Warangal, and ten days of peaceful campus strikes preceded the indefinite action.

Political and Administrative Response — A Test for the Revanth Reddy Government

The Telangana government, led by Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, faces a mounting political challenge. On August 10, 2026 — the seventh day of the strike, coinciding with the Bonalu festival — protesters in Warangal launched a postcard campaign, mailing demands directly to the Chief Minister, Finance Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, and Health Minister Damodar Raja Narasimha. The symbolic act, a rally from the Ananthalakshmi Government Ayurvedic College to the local Head Post Office, underscores the protesters' frustration with conventional channels.

Former Telangana Director of Public Health (DPH) Dr G Srinivasa Rao, now a member of the Jana Sena Party's Telangana Medical Wing, publicly backed the protest at Indira Park on August 13. He provided the most detailed comparison yet: allopathy interns receive Rs 29,792 while AYUSH house surgeons get Rs 13,754; allopathy PGs receive up to Rs 74,782 while AYUSH PGs earn a fraction of that. Dr Rao demanded the government immediately release a GO to equalise stipends, clear arrears, and establish the 'Green Channel' for timely payments. His intervention signals that the issue has transcended student activism and entered mainstream political discourse.

The Broader Pattern — Stipend Disparity Across Non-Allopathic Streams

This strike is part of a wider national movement. In January 2026, dental students in Raipur protested demanding stipend parity with MBBS doctors, highlighting that the disparity extends beyond AYUSH to all non-allopathic medical streams. The pattern is consistent: allopathic medicine, as the dominant paradigm, commands premium compensation even at the trainee level, while traditional systems — despite government rhetoric about their importance — are treated as second-class disciplines.

The economic implications are significant. Telangana's AYUSH colleges produce hundreds of graduates annually who are expected to serve in rural and semi-urban areas where allopathic coverage is thin. The state's own Ayushman Bharat implementation relies on AYUSH practitioners at Health and Wellness Centres. By underpaying trainees, the government risks deterring talented students from entering these streams, creating a pipeline problem that will manifest as a shortage of traditional medicine practitioners in precisely the areas where they are most needed. The protesters' demand for a 'Green Channel' also highlights an administrative failure: even the inadequate stipends are often delayed, forcing doctors to wait months for payments they have already earned.

The Bottom Line

The data is unambiguous: Telangana pays AYUSH house surgeons Rs 13,754 per month against Rs 29,792 for allopathy — a 116 percent gap that has persisted since 2016 despite GO 77's explicit mandate for parity. The state's own bifurcation history shows that Andhra Pradesh, with comparable resources, maintains parity at Rs 26,000 for house surgeons and up to Rs 64,767 for PGs. The 6,000 doctors on strike, now in their 11th day with a hunger strike at Dharna Chowk, are not asking for preferential treatment — they are asking for implementation of the government's own orders, with arrears from January 1, 2026, and a 'Green Channel' to prevent future delays. As Dr Rajesh Kalyan put it: "We are not fighting for charity but for justice." The Revanth Reddy government's response to this demand will be a defining test of whether Telangana's commitment to AYUSH — and to its own policy documents — extends beyond rhetoric to the doctors who staff its traditional medicine hospitals.

— By Dr. Raj Patel, Staff Writer

This article was produced with AI-assisted research and editorial support. Sources: India Today, Telangana Today, The Hindu, Siasat, The Hans India, Hyderabad Feed.