Quota stir creates brief tension

ANTI-RESERVATION STUDENTS of the Gandhi Medical College (GMC), Bhopal, blocked the main entrance of Hamidia Hospital?s emergency this morning.

ANTI-RESERVATION STUDENTS of the Gandhi Medical College (GMC), Bhopal, blocked the main entrance of Hamidia Hospital’s emergency this morning.

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That created a tense situation at the spot at about 10.30 am, with several patients and general public stranded on either side of the entrance. Intervention by Dean Dr Nirbhay Srivastava, however, calmed the situation and he got the entrance reopened after about 10 minutes.

Later, the protestors reached back to their tent pitched opposite to the emergency entrance and operated some parallel OPDs there. However, the number of patients at these OPDs was minimal, as most of the wards were otherwise functioning almost normally through the pro-reservation junior doctors and students.

The agitators staged street-plays to inform public about the ‘ill-effects’ of the proposed hike in reservation. “We are staging the street-plays to create public awareness about the gravity of the situation’’, anti-reservation faction leader
Dr Manish Rawat said.

The street-plays and other demonstrations, albeit, took a slight beating due to the weather that took an ugly turn in the afternoon. Even the tent pitched by the protestors was almost swept away by the heavy winds that lashed the entire City.