Quota supporters clash with police in Bihar, stir continues

New Delhi, May 19 (UNI) Police today fought pitched battle with pro-reservationists in Patna in which scores of people were injured even as the ongoing stir over the OBC quota intensified with more medicos joining the nationwide agitation.

Hundreds of pro-quota agitators took out a procession from the Gandhi Maidan to protest the opposition to reservation for the OBCs.

The protesters later targeted mediapersons covering the event with sticks. Police resorted to lathicharge to disperse them.

Striking doctors and medical students have called for a nation-wide rally tomorrow to press for their roll-back demand of the Government's proposal of 27 per cent reservation for OBCs in higher educational institutions.

Simultaneously, students and doctors in several cities, including Ahmedabad, Guwahati, Shimla, Amritsar, Ludhiana and Faridkote, will also stage rallies.

The AIIMS Faculty Association today joined the students, on a hunger strike from May 13. Though parallel OPD units were set up, services in Delhi's five premier government hospitals including AIIMS and LNJP, remained affected and patients had to suffer.

All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), the Safdarjang, Guru Tegh Bahadur, the Lok Nayak Jaiprakash Narain and Sucheta Kriplani Hospitals were returning patients despite parallel OPD units functioning there.

Students from Delhi University, IP University and several school, along with members of the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) and Delhi Traders and RAWs observed 'Solidarity Day' in support of the agitating doctors and medical students.

Late last night, a delegation of Youth of Equality, which is spearheading the agitation, met Minister of State without Portfolio Oscar Fernandes for the second time in the day and conveyed their decision to continue with the anti-OBC reservation agitation as they were not satisfied with the government's suggestions on the contentious issue.

''We conveyed our decision of continuing with the strike to Mr Fernandes at the meeting. The government's assurance that general category seats will not be reduced is not acceptable to us,'' Youth for Equality leader Dr Neha Gami told UNI.

Earlier, talks with Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss and Mr Fernandes remained inconclusive.

Resident doctors at the Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGI) in Lucknow went on an indefinite strike supporting the countrywide agitation against reservation. About 200 resident doctors boycotted the emergency and OPD services at the SGPGI leading to crippling of the medical services.

The resident doctors and students held a rally and formed a human chain in Jaipur expressing solidarity with the anti-reservation movement. The residents, under the banner 'Youth for Equality', have started a door-to-door campaign to garner support even as medical services remained affected.

Health services in all hospitals attached to five medical colleges in Madhya Pradesh remained crippled as the anti-reservationists planned to take out a ''Maharally'' in the state capital tomorrow.

Students of Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Joka, extended solidarity with the agitating junior doctors in West Bengal as the cease work in five medical colleges continued for the fifth day today.

IIM Ahmedabad Director Bakul Dholakia ruled out any possibility of any hike in the degree-level MBA seats in the prestigious institute while Infosys chief mentor Narayan Murthy called for a detailed study before taking a final decision over the matter.

UNI TEAM YA AT BD1842