The Hindu : New Delhi News : Medicos decide to continue their strike

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, May 31, 2006

New Delhi

New Delhi

Medicos decide to continue their strike

Staff Reporter

`Since the Court's order does not specifically stop us from protests, there was no question of contempt'

RALLYING FOR SUPPORT: Medical students and junior doctors taking out a motorcycle rally against the Centre's proposed reservation policy in New Delhi on Tuesday. Photo: Shanker Chakravarty

NEW DELHI: The medicos, who have been on strike for over a fortnight protesting against the Central Government's decision to bring in reservation for the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in higher education, on Tuesday decided to continue with their agitation despite the Supreme Court calling upon them to end their protest.

Members of the Youth for Equality (YFE) held protracted meetings with legal experts through the day in the wake of the Supreme Court's order. They maintained that the court's order did not specifically stop them from protests and, hence, there was no question of contempt.

Earlier in the day, they said they got information about the court's order only through news channels. One of their teams also reportedly went to the apex court to get a copy of the order. While it was decided to go ahead with the agitation, their meeting with legal experts is likely to continue till late at night.

On Wednesday, the protesters will go ahead with the "Medical Bandh" in the Capital. Private laboratories, clinics and members of the medical fraternity are expected to join the bandh.

The Delhi Medical Association met the doctors of private and government hospitals and it was decided that the Out Patient Departments (OPDs) of all the hospitals would remain closed. Only the casualty and emergencies would function. Chemists and dental associations have also decided to join the strike.

Meanwhile, parallel OPDs were revived at All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) on Tuesday after a few days gap.

Students of Delhi University staged a rally in protest against reservation at Vivekanand Square on the North Campus in the afternoon.

They were joined by students of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, and some other colleges. In the evening, a group of students also took out a motorcycle rally from University College of Medical Sciences in Shahdara to AIIMS.

The JNU Students' Union (JNUSU) held a press conference this evening welcoming the Government's decision to implement 27 per cent reservation for the OBCs in higher education. They claimed that with the Government announcing an increase in seats there was no ground for agitation. "The new charter of demands put forward by Youth for Equality is not only illogical and immoral, but also against the spirit of the Constitution," said a JNUSU spokesperson.

The Medicos Forum for Equal Opportunities said it was regrettable that the agitating students and doctors have declined the Supreme Court's appeal to withdraw their protests. "The order of the Supreme Court asking the medicos to call off their agitation has also come late in the day considering the fact that the illegal protests within the hospital premises have been allowed for the past fortnight," said a spokesperson for the Forum.

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