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HC notice to Govt on anti-quota stir

       New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday issued notices to the Centre, the Delhi Government and the Medical Council of India (MCI) on a petition seeking to declare the ongoing anti-quota strike by the doctors as illegal. According to the petition filed by the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Medical Association, the Government had failed to invoke the Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA) to stop the agitation. The petitioner's counsel Prashant Bhushan claimed that several patients from the poor strata had been put to inconvenience due to the strike and the Government had failed to ensure alternative arrangements. Posting the matter for further hearing to June 1, a Division Bench headed by acting Chief Justice Vijender Jain asked the respondents to file their replies within two weeks.

     The court also asked an explanation from the government and the Medical Council of India, why they should not take disciplinary action against the striking doctors. Under the 'Youth For Equality' banner, the doctors and medical students of premier medical colleges of Delhi -- Lady Hardinge Medical College, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Maulana Azad Medical College, University College of Medical Sciences and Vardhman Mahavir Medical College, Dr Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, Guru Tegh Bahadur, Lok Nayak Jaiprakash Narain Hospital - are on a strike to protest the Government's reservation policy.

     Resident and Junior doctors of Deen Dayal Upadhyay, Lal Bahadur Shastri have also joined the stir. Police and Rapid Action Force have been deployed in and around AIIMS where the medical students started the indefinite hunger strike on May 13. More students have joined the indefinite hunger strike at AIIMS. At present 125 students are on indefinite hunger strike. Out of 180 medical students, 130 on hunger strike have fainted so far. On Monday, the Prime Minister asked the medicos to resume duty and said he would look into report submitted by the Group of Ministers on the matter from the view point of all sections of society. But the medicos continued their agitation since it had no mention of their demand. The students and their supporters have been protesting for over ten days now, wanting total rollback of a proposed quota-hike for Other Backward Classes (OBC) in elite educational institutions, and a review of the present reservation policy. At present, government-funded colleges have to allocate 22.5 percent of their seats to the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes. The proposed 27 percent reservation for the OBC students with the existing 22.5 percent 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.

Anti-reservation protests in Jaipur and Delhi (Go To Top)

       New Delhi/Jaipur: Medical and other students took out a rally in Jaipur and as well as in Delhi on Tuesday to protest the central government proposal to increase caste-based quotas in institutions of higher education. Shiv Khera, came to AIIMs and motivated the medical student s who were on hunger strike "Today we have organised a mass rally in which people from all communities have come. We had appealed to various communities to come forward in our support against reservation. Reservation is making our country hollow. The rally started from S.M.S. medical college to saryu circle and the delegation will go to the Secretariat and give the petition in the governor house. As you are seeing a large gathering has come and if we do not fight for our rights now then never," said Summit Banerjee, a doctor. "This is no criteria, they are dividing the people and the students, which is unfair and the basis is caste which doesn't hold any meaning in today's society. It's not that we are criticising or discriminating. Why everybody is not given equal opportunity," said Apoorva, a medical student.

     Protesting students have undertaken streets to streets canvassing to draw the support of people from all walks of life for the rally. They also distributed pamphlets against the reservation policy at traffic junctions in the Jaipur Striking doctors in New Delhi got an unexpected boost of support from management guru Shiv Khera. He joined the doctors, who are protesting the government's decision to give 27 percent reservation to OBCs at AIIMs "We are looking to have a public address on 28th, where we want to get people involved coming from Delhi and other walks of life. As the government is talking about reservation in schools and colleges, how do we talk to people who are unreasonable," said Shiv Khera, Management Guru "I fully support the anti-reservation movement. We have sympathy for OBCs but the government should not do back door entry by giving them reservation but should bring them up by educating them and bringing them in par with others," said P.A.Menon, President, nayak service society, Delhi The students and their supporters want total rollback of a proposed quota-hike for OBCs in elite educational institutions, and a review of the present reservation policy.

Pro-reservation activists plead for quota (Go To Top)

       Pune: Countering the ongoing agitation against Centre's OBC reservation proposal, several pro-reservation activists took to the streets in Pune on Tuesday and requested the government not to succumb to the pressure of the anti-reservation activists on the issue. Activists from OBC cell of the Republican Party of India, Samta Parishad and students, staged a demonstration on the Pune-Mumbai National Highway. "People protesting against reservation do not want that OBC should get any facility. We fear that Central government may succumb to the pressure of anti-reservation activists and change its decision. We are holding demonstration here to pressurize the Centre, so that it does not change its decision," said Ajit Ambedkar, one of the activists. The activists rubbished the argument that reservation for OBCs would lead to compromising with the quality of education. "We want to tell the country that reservation is part of social justice. Those who do not understand, we want to tell them that reservation is given on the principal of protection of discrimination. People of backward classes, who are deprived of education, will get proper education (through reservation) and this would help in maintaining balance in the society," said Jaideo Gaikwad, a member of Republican Party of India. At present, government-funded colleges have to allocate 22.5 percent of their seats to scheduled castes and tribal students. If the current proposal is implemented about half of the seats in state-run medical, engineering and business schools would go to the backward classes.