Back to Headlines

Hunger-strike against OBC quota

      New Delhi: Over two hundred doctors of five medical colleges of Delhi went on an indefinite hunger-strike here on Sunday in protest against the Central Government's proposed reservation for students belonging to the Other Backward Castes (OBCs) in higher educational institutions in the country. The resident doctors of five medical colleges -- All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Maulana Azad Medical College, Lady Hardinge Medical College, University College of Medical Sciences and Vardhman Mahavir Medical College were already on indefinite strike since Friday along with medical students. "We will continue our strike till the Government rolls back its decision," said Dr. Anant Oberoi of University College of Medical Sciences.

   Meanwhile, some more groups joined the agitating doctors today to show solidarity with them in the their stir against the controversial quota issue. "Representatives from Lady Sriram College, Siddhartha Medical College and Jawahar Lal Nehru University have joined us in our protest and we are hoping some more groups to join," said Dr. Vinod Patro, member of the AIIMS Resident Doctors Association. Patro said that they would continue the hunger strike on Monday also and demanded the Prime Minister to discuss the issues with the agitating doctors and students. "A judicial committee should be appointed to review the existing reservations. They should judge how much it has been effective. Only then they should move towards these types of proposals," Patro added. The agitation has affected normal medical services in the capital, however, emergency services were being run by senior doctors in these hospitals. Resident doctors were also planning to hold parallel OPDs tomorrow. However, the main sufferers are the patients, who have to trudge from one hospital to another for check-up and cure. "I am here for a week. The services have been affected for last three days and caused a lot of problem for the patients. A family came here for treatment last night, but they could not get any treatment and so moved to Meerut this morning," Sandhya, who is a resident of Muradabad, and had come to AIIMS for her mother's treatment, said. The anti-reservation protests have gained momentum across the country with reports of protest and strike by the doctors coming from Cuttack and Ahmedabad also.

No re-look at quota proposal: Arjun

      New Delhi: Keeping his words that he would comment on the controversial quota issue only after the State Assembly polls, Union Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh today said there would be no re-look on the proposed reservation for the Other Backward Classes (OBC) in higher education, and the Union Cabinet would soon decide on the matter. He condemned Saturday's brutal action by the Mumbai Police on the protesting medical students, and said he was "always ready to talk to them". He also urged the students to exercise calm and restrain. The proposed 27 percent reservation for the OBC students in premier education institutes across the country along with the existing 22.5 percent reservation for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes would take the total seats under the quota category to nearly 50 percent, leaving only half of the total seats for the General category students. This has led to widespread protests by students in New Delhi and Mumbai and elsewhere across the country. Media and Knowledge Commission too came in for flak from Arjun Singh today. While he held the media responsible for inciting people on the issue, he disparaged the Knowledge Commission as not being above the Constitution. On Saturday, he had said that if Sam Pitroda, the Chairman of the Knowledge Commission, was not aware of the Constitutional Amendment, based on which the current reservation was being proposed, then how could he lead the body. Today Singh further upped the ante against the Commission saying he was not at all willing to talk to its members.

     The Knowledge Commission had earlier urged Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh to refrain from such reservation policy. The Prime Minister has neither rejected nor accepted the suggestions given by the Commission on this issue. Arjun Singh further said that the Lok Sabha was united on the reservation issue and no political party was against the proposal. He also said that Parliament would decide on the creamy layer and other such restrictions in the quota proposal. On Saturday, Singh had also completely rejected rumours that the Prime Minister was kept out of the loop and that he had reservation on the quota issue. "The Prime Minister was definitely aware of this. In fact, he helped this amendment law being passed after satisfying the anxiety of OBC MPs. How can I say he was not aware of it?" said Arjun Singh, while speaking to private news channel Headlines Today. Arjun Singh also downplayed the criticism and division of opinion in the Congress Party over the issue. He said party president Sonia Gandhi had already given her consent over the matter.