NEW DELHI: With the Reservation Bill being referred to a Parliamentary Standing Committee after being introduced in the Lok Sabha on Friday, doctors and students protesting under the `Youth for Equality' banner here have suspended their agitation till the next session of Parliament.

Resident doctors of five government hospitals in the capital, including the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and the Maulana Azad Medical College (MAMC), who were on mass casual leave for the second day on Friday, resumed their duties in the afternoon after calling off their agitation. The agitation by the medicos had badly affected services at the two hospitals on Thursday.

"We are calling off our protests with immediate effect. The fact that the Bill has been referred to a committee is a moral victory for the `Youth for Equality'. Also, resident doctors in the capital who continued to be on mass casual leave on Friday morning will join work immediately," said AIIMS Resident Doctors' Association president Binod Patra.

Stating that doctors will put in extra hours to make up and clear the patient load, Dr. Patra said, "We will now use this time to regroup. We understand that it is a short-term victory and we will now organise ourselves better, mobilise public opinion and explore legal options. What we are demanding is free and quality primary education for all, reservation is certainly not the way forward."

Meanwhile, on Friday morning doctors from various government hospitals and students participated in a protest demonstration at Jantar Mantar.

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