Junior doctors in Andhra Pradesh continued their agitation for stipend hike and other demands even as the government said they should call off the strike first.
"They should call off their strike. We will take up the demands with the chief minister. We are ready to resolve the issue," Medical Education Minister Kondru Murali Mohan, who took charge of the portfolio today, told reporters.
The junior doctors have been agitating since last month. Apart from the strike, a few doctors are on an indefinite hunger strike.
The talks with the officials and a Group of Ministers constituted to look into the issue have failed.
The government said the doctors wanted reduction in the compulsory rural service, which was not acceptable.
Meanwhile, a representative of the doctors said today that they wanted an amicable solution, and maintained that they were ready for rural service.