Hyderabad, Feb 4: Making it clear that the State government would initiate talks with the junior doctors provided they called off their agitation, Health & Medical Minister Dr D L Ravindra Reddy on Saturday described the ongoing agitation by the medicos as politically-inspired.

Speaking to media persons here, Dr Reddy said that the government was ready to hold talks with junior doctors on their demands only after they called off their agitation and resumed duties. The ball is in their court, he added.

Dr Reddy said that the medicos’ strike had begun in Visakhapatnam initially and spread to all parts of the State. Stating that previous governments had kept the files relating to payment of stipend to junior doctors pending, the minister said that he had regularized the payments to medicos soon after taking charge.

Commenting that the YSR Congress chief Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy does not know the meaning of “junior doctors”, the minister ridiculed the former for stating that the medicos should be paid stipend according to the MCA manual. Dr Reddy pointed out that the MCA never mentioned about stipend to junior doctors and it talked only about number of medical seats and other relevant issues.

Alleging that TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu was misleading the medicos, the minister criticized the former chief minister for “inciting” the junior doctors to continue their agitation.

Meanwhile, the agitating junior doctors took serious exception to the minister’s comments. Faulting the minister’s tough posture, the junior doctors made it clear to the government that they would participate in talks on invitation and call off the strike only after the government gave a written assurance on their demands. They also threatened to intensify the agitation in the next couple of days if the government remained adamant.

Meanwhile, three junior doctors who were fasting in the Gandhi Hospital have been shifted to ICU as their condition turned critical.