BANGALORE: House surgeons of Victoria Hospital stayed away from work on Friday as they continued to protest the Centre's decision to go ahead with 27 per cent reservation for OBCs in institutions of higher learning.

More than 100 house surgeons, wearing black badges, staged a protest outside the hospital in the morning. They also distributed pamphlets against reservation. However, they resumed work in the afternoon.

`Awareness'

As the Junior Doctors' Association did not join the protest, work was unaffected in government hospitals, including Victoria, Bowring and Lady Curzon, Minto Eye Hospital and Vani Vilas.

Members of the `Youth for Equality' distributed about 30,000 pamphlets in colleges and software companies in Bangalore.

"We want to create more awareness on the issue. We want people to understand what we are fighting for," said Kumar Gaurav, a member of the forum.

The forum members propose to intensify their anti-quota agitation with a "Bangalore Chalo Maha Rally" on Sunday.

About 10,000 medical, engineering and degree college students, software professionals, alumni of the Indian Institutes of Technology and the Indian Institutes of Management, and the general public, are expected to join the rally, which will start from Chikklalbagh and end at Bannappa Park.

Mr. Gaurav said the protesters, who would sport black badges, would carry placards and banners against reservation.

He said that the `Youth for Equality' planned to request Governor T.N. Chaturvedi to address the gathering on Sunday.

`Youth for Equality' had been successful in mustering the support of medical and engineering students of Mysore, Kolar, Belgaum and Davangere districts and "they (students) have confirmed their participation in the rally," he said.

Nagaraj, president of the Indian Medical Association, Karnataka chapter, said that the southern chapters of the IMA were meeting in Chennai on Saturday to discuss the issue.

"We have taken a neutral stand so far. We will decide the future course of action after the meeting," Dr. Nagaraj said.

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