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Patients turned away as medicos
re-start anti-quota stir
by Chandrika Jain

      New Delhi: Patients were at the mercy of Delhi's medical fraternity on Thursday, as most of them were turned away by doctors who were on mass casual leave in protest against the Central Government's decision to go ahead with the reservation of seats for Other Backward Class (OBC) students in institutions of higher learning. The scene at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), one of India's premier medical and research institutes, was chaotic, as patients queued up outside the hospital's doors and various wards, hoping to get that much needed treatment and succor for their kith and kin. Prabhas Jain, a resident of Bihar, was refused a check-up on Thursday. "I have come from Bihar. I even got an appointment with the specialist for today. But today, I have been asked to come another day since the doctors are on strike. I do not know where to stay in in Delhi. I will have to wait or might have to return without treatment," Jain said. Over 7000 patients turn up at AIIMS on an average day. Dr Shahezadi Farad, a patient who came from Okhla, said: "I have come for my Gynaecology check-up along with my husband who has a Thyroid problem. We were waiting for our turn since 8 am and now we have been asked to come after a month when the strike gets over."

   At Bhagwandass Road, in the heart of the capital, the medicos were water-cannoned into submission by Rapid Action Force personnel. The protesters were prevented from moving towards the Supreme Court and Parliament to press the country's lawmakers to go back on their reservation decision. Two of the medicos were injured in the ensuing melee. "Our protest will be peaceful. There will be no aggression, no slogan shouting. We will just stand silently in front of the Supreme Court, holding signs that say `Supreme Court save us'. All faculty and senior consultants are on a day's mass casual leave. After the demonstration is over, we will run additional OPDs (out patient departments) from four in the evening to 6 p.m.," Dr. Kaushal, a member of the AIIMS Resident Doctors' Association, said. Over 700 resident doctors of the AIIMS, Maulana Azad Medical College (MAMC) and University College of Medical Sciences (UCMS) have gone on one day mass casual leave today.

     According to the striking doctors around 500 faculty members are running OPD services. Moreover, AIIMS officials have assured of their full cooperation with the patients saying that emergency and casualty services would be provided if needed and in-patient services would not be affected. The students and medicos are protesting against the Government's move to reserve 27 per cent seats for OBCs, have said that they would protest in front of the Parliament to coincide with the tabling of the OBC reservation bill. The Bill provides reservation to SC, ST and Other Backward Class students in the Central Educational Institutions and Universities deemed as Central and Government aided ones. The Bill cleared by the Cabinet provides for a staggered implementation of reservation. It also limits reservation to only Government aided institutions like Indian Institute of Technology (IITs) and Indian Institute of Management (IIMs) for the time being, apart from all central universities. Opposed to the staggered implementation of quotas, the PMK, a UPA ally, has decided to stage dharnas from Monday. The party has demanded that reservation should be implemented in one go. The Bill has been revised and split into two parts segregating aided and unaided institutions and excludes specialized courses or programmes at the post-doctoral level from the ambit of the quota.

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