Click to play videoNew Delhi: Medical students' agitation against the government's quota proposal continued across the country on Monday as the Health Ministry issued a general notice to all medical faculties to stop the strike and re-join work.
The Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs (CCPA) held a meeting to decide on measures to tackle the situation.
There were indications that Government was mulling an increase in the number of seats in institutes of higher learning like IITs and IIMs.
However, no specific official announcement was made in this regard.
Following the meeting Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee said, "CCPA met and reviewed the full situation including the agitation. We will ensure a mechanism which would keep the interests of all students of the society. Full details are being worked out and will be announced shortly."
Mapping the reservation uproar |
|
Medical students boycotted classes and government and private doctors struck work in hospitals in Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Delhi and cities in Gujarat and Punjab in support of the Indian Medical Association's (IMA) call for a strike.
Doctors of several private hospitals are on a daylong strike in Delhi and students of five government medical colleges continued their hunger strike for the second day.
Routine and emergency services at several private hospitals in Delhi were affected. Services at five government medical colleges in the city, where the agitation was first began, is already suffering since Saturday.
At least 150 students of five medical colleges, who have formed the Youth For Equality group, held a hunger strike for a second day at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and demanded an immediate rollback of the proposal. A Lady Hardinge Medical College student fainted during the protest.
Several private hospitals in Delhi closed OPD services in support of the IMA's strike call.
Doctors from across the Capital will hold a demonstration at Rajghat to press for a rollback of the proposal and action against police officials who lathicharged medical students in Mumbai on Saturday.
"We demand a total roll back of the proposal to give 27 per cent reservation to OBCs and a review of the present reservation policy," said Amitasha Sinha, a student of Lady Hardinge College Medical students said the hunger strike would continue till the government takes back the reservation proposal, announces a review of the reservation policy and orders stringent action against Mumbai police officials.
"We will continue our hunger strike and will not attend our duties," said Vinod Patro of the AIIMS Resident Doctors Association.
Students of Lady Hardinge Medical College, AIIMS, Maulana Azad Medical College, University College of Medical Sciences and Vardhman Mahavir Medical College and Rohtak Medical College and Shimla Medical College are leading the protests. Delhi University, Lady Shriram College and Jawaharlal Nehru University are supporting them.
In Mumbai, medical students and doctors will hold a silent march from Azad Maidan to Mantralaya against the quota proposal and the lathicharge.
The Maharashtra government has ordered a probe into the lathicharge and asked Mumbai Police Commissioner A N Roy to submit a report within a week.
Students of government-run Bangalore Medical College boycotted classes in support of IMA's stir.
"All under-graduates have boycotted classes in support of the IMA's call," said Mohan Chandra, Bangalore Medical College Resident doctors of the Sir Sunderlal Hospital in the Banaras Hindu University (BHU) are on a one-day token strike.
Junior doctors and students of Amritsar’s Government Medical College didn’t attend OPD services on Sunday and are on a hunger strike on Monday.
OPD services at the Dayanand Medical College (DMC) and the Baba Jaswant Singh Dental College in Ludhiana were disrupted after more than 500 students went on strike to protest against the proposal.
Students, senior resident doctors, teachers and interns of the two colleges took out a rally, shouted slogans against the Centre and burnt an effigy of HRD minister Arjun Singh.
Medicos in Gujarat government-run colleges are on a day-long strike on Monday in Surat.
At a meeting in Patna, the IMA's Bihar chapter condemned the police action on medicos protesting against proposed quotas for OBCs in elite central educational institutions.
(For updates you can share with your friends, follow IBNLive on Facebook, Twitter and Google+)
displayed with permission. Use of the CNN name and/or logo on or as part of CNN-IBN does not derogate from the intellectual property rights of Cable News Network in respect of them.