UPSET over the quota issue, students of the Moti Lal Nehru Medical College forcibly closed OPD, took out a rally at Swaroop Rani Nehru Hospital and shouted slogans against the Union HRD Minister Arjun Singh on Tuesday.
Students also decided to run a parallel OPD on the SRN Hospital campus from Wednesday for the convenience of poor patients. Wearing apron from reverse side, the students showed their protest against the lathi-charge on medical students in Delhi and Mumbai, who were protesting against the move for OBC reservation in medical and engineering courses. They also threatened to completely paralyse the emergency services in case their demand was not fulfilled.
The students led by Dr Sunil Kumar Shukla reached the emergency ward at about 10 pm and requested the senior doctors to close the OPD in support of their agitation against OBC quota. They locked all the OPDs and later shouted slogans against Arjun Singh in front of emergency building. Holding anti-quota placards in their hands, they also took out a rally on the hospital campus.
The students also threatened to completely struck OPD service from Wednesday and conducted meeting to decide future course of action. “We have decided to run parallel OPD on the campus for the patients. But we will not let the hospital run the OPD. We will also try to arrange medicines for the patients from our own pocket,” said Dr Sunil Kumar Singh.
{{/usCountry}}The students also threatened to completely struck OPD service from Wednesday and conducted meeting to decide future course of action. “We have decided to run parallel OPD on the campus for the patients. But we will not let the hospital run the OPD. We will also try to arrange medicines for the patients from our own pocket,” said Dr Sunil Kumar Singh.
{{/usCountry}}Singh claimed that PG students also supported their agitation against the OBC quota in reputed medical institutes.
Meanwhile, the reservation issue dominated the student activities on the Allahabad University (AU). Different groups of students organised pro and anti-reservation rallies.
While the pro-reservation students took out a bicycle rally, the anti-quota students took out a procession and held a meeting at the Azad Park to lodge their protest.
Pro-quota group took out a bicycle rally from the AU Student Union hall to the District Magistrate office via Manmohan Park, PD Tandon Park, Subhash Square, the High Court and the AG office. The students led by Nirbhay Singh Patel displayed placards in favour of reservation and shouted slogans. Later, a meeting was held at the DM office which was addressed by several student leaders. The student leaders demanded reservation for OBC students in higher education and said that they would stick to their guns on the quota issue.
Meanwhile, AUU president Ajit Kumar Yadav said that a procession would be taken out on Wednesday from varsity to DM’s office where the students would stage dharna in support of reservation.
Those who are protesting against reservation also took out a procession from the AUU hall and held a meeting at Azad Park on Tuesday. The students were led by Vijay Kumar Dwivedi, Pradeep Narayan Dwivedi and Shatool Samrat Singh.
Addressing the meeting, Vijay Dwivedi said that the government was trying to restrain the talented and meritorious students from higher education by implementing reservation policy and this would not be allowed to happen.
Varanasi
A report from Varanasi said, as part of the nation-wide anti-reservation protest, the one-day strike of undergraduate and postgraduate students at Institute of Medical Sciences (IMS) in Banaras Hindu University (BHU) turned into an indefinite strike here from Tuesday.
In a unique way of their protest against the Union government’s proposal to increase reservations at Central-Government funded higher academic institutes, the medical students set up a parallel out patient department ward on the IMS premises and diagnosed the patients here today.
Now the medical students are contemplating a ‘hunger strike to get their demands fulfilled. Besides, the medical students polished boots and cleaned auto-rickshaws in Lanka area to register their protest here today.
Kanpur
Medical College students here have decided to openly support their colleagues who are staging anti-reservation demonstrations in several cities of the country.
Medical college students and those of other institutions of higher education will take out a procession in Kanpur on Wednesday. Meanwhile, IMA members said a Statewide strike would be observed on May 20 and a nationwide strike on May 25. The IMA will not invite IPS officers to its functions in future in protest against police atrocities on medicos in Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore.