The Hindu : National : Medicos continue anti-quota stir

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Saturday, May 27, 2006

National

National

Medicos continue anti-quota stir

Staff Reporter

Operation theatres closed for some time in RML Hospital

NEW DELHI: Even as the medicos were preparing on Friday for their "Dilli Aao, Desh Bachao (Come to Delhi, Save the Country) Rally" at the Ramlila Grounds here on Saturday, protests against the 27 per cent reservation for the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in institutions of higher learning continued, disrupting health services.

The parallel Out Patient Departments at the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences have remained suspended for the past couple of days, while the one at Safdarjung Hospital is likely to remain closed on Saturday too. At Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, operation theatres had to be closed for some time as doctors and other staff went on mass casual leave on Friday. Even walk-in interviews in some Central Government hospitals were stalled.

While protesters at the Maulana Azad Medical College signed a huge banner in blood, medical students on hunger strike at the AIIMS were felicitated at the Bara Hindu Rao Hospital. They were welcomed with flowers.

At Guru Tegh Bahadur Hospital effigies of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Union Minister for Human Resource Development Arjun Singh were burnt.

Students of the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, and Netaji Subash Institute of Techonlogy joined a silent candle light march taken out from the IIT to AIIMS on Friday evening.

On the other hand, students, doctors and senior faculty members of AIIMS, MAMC, Safdarjung and Lok Nayak Jaya Prakash Hospital continued to hold "lunch hour" protest against the anti-reservation stir under the aegis of Medicos Forum for Equal Opportunities (MFEO).

The MFEO said it was regrettable that the Government was silent about the active support being lent to the anti-reservation stir by the administrations of different hospitals and medical colleges.

PTI reports from Ahmedabad:

Pro-reservation activists torched a Bajaj scooter after a rally here on Friday to protest against the alleged anti-quota statements of company chief Rahul Bajaj.

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