2,500 medicos in WB protest Govt's quota policy

Kolkata, May 16: About 2,500 students and junior doctors from different medical colleges and their counterparts from the elite institutions participated in a protest march and road blockade at the busy Esplanade area in the city today, giving a momentum to the agitation against the increase in reservation quota.

Shouting slogans and raising placards the medicos, under the banner of Youth for Equality, started their march from Calcutta Medical College and hospital to the Raj Bhavan to hand over a memorandum to Governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi demanding that the Centre refrain from the move.

However, the police barred their way at the Esplanade, 500 metres from the Raj Bhavan. Then a group of representatives from among the students made their way to the Raj Bhavan where they handed over the memorandum to the Governor's office.

The medicos, including junior doctors from all the eight medical government colleges spread across the state, and students from the Calcutta and Jadavpur University as well as students from Presidency college participated in the demonstration.

Expressing solidarity with their counterparts in Delhi and other cities across the country, the medical students wore black badges to register their protest against the Government's move. They also burnt HRD Minister Arjun Singh in effigy.

Raising slogans like 'quota system is aimed at vote bank' , 'reservation on caste basis will increase casteism', 'let merit be the only yardstick for higher education', 'stop quota save merit', they demanded Mr Singh's resignation. They were supported by the Indian Medical Association.

Students of Midnapore Medical College and Hospital also boycotted classes to register their protest.

Junior doctors of North Bengal medical college and Burdwan medical college have been on a class boycott since Saturday last as part of their agitational programme.

They threatened that if the government does not withdraw from the move they would go for a bigger movement, including withdrawing outdoor services in the hospital.

UNI

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