NEW DELHI: Medical students protesting here said on Tuesday they were prepared to call off their strike if the Government set up an independent commission — preferably judicial — to review the proposed move to extend reservation for Other Backward Classes in institutes of higher learning.

Demanding suspension of the proposal till then, the students said they only wanted the Government to take a re-look at the matter and take a decision keeping in mind the current academic situation.

"We are only asking them to drop the proposal for now and set up an independent commission to review it. Is that an unjust demand? The proposal will affect not just students, but also the people who come to the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences for treatment. It pains us immensely to see these patients suffer, but we are left with no choice," said Sasmit Sarangi, member of Youth For Equality, an umbrella organisation of medical students from across the Capital.

Noting that universities did not have the infrastructure to increase seats in Central universities, Sasmit said they were hurt by the silence of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the matter.

"We have sent repeated requests for an appointment, but are yet to receive any response. What really pains us is that the Prime Minister is yet to make a single statement on the issue. He may not agree with us, but we have the right to know what his stand on the matter is," said Sasmit.

The students said they were keen to meet Rahul Gandhi and other Members of Parliament to put their case before them.

Medical services continued to be hit in some hospitals although parallel Out Patient Departments were being run.

However, the Delhi Government claimed that following a directive, resident doctors of 14 hospitals that were under the control of the Directorate of Health Services withdrew their strike even as those from the Lok Nayak Jaya Prakash, Guru Tegh Bahadur and Deendayal Upadhyaya hospitals continued with it.

The hunger strike being observed by medical students on the AIIMS campus entered the third day on Tuesday. "We are not going to call off our hunger strike until the Government agrees to our demand. There are just about 50 seats at the undergraduate level in the AIIMS right now of which just 33 are in the general category.

If the Government implements the proposal, then there will be only 19 seats left for the general category," said Amit, a medical student.

The day also saw students of the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, extend their support by joining the strike.

"We were unable to join the strike earlier as we had our exams and were trying to mobilise people through the Internet. All of us are ready to help in whatever way possible," said Neha, a first year IIT Delhi student.

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