No breakthrough on reservation issue despite govt direction

New Delhi, May 28 (UNI) Despite the governments' direction to increase the number of General Category seats in medical colleges increase, no breakthrough has been achieved on the reservation issue.

The talks between agitating doctors, a Health Secretary P K Hota and Principal Secretary T K A Nair have remained inconclusive today.

Another round of talks between agitating medicos and PMO will be held this evening.

Meanwhile the government has tried to pacify the students protesting against the 27% reservation for OBC in higher educational institutions by directing the nine medical colleges to frame a detailed plan to increase the seats by June 15.

Health ministry has written a letter to All India Institute of Medical Sciences asking it to formulate a plan to increase the number of seats from the present 50 to 90. The ministry has said that AIIMS has enough infractrcture to inhance the seats.

The government has also asked Ram Manohar Lohia hospital, Safdarjung hospital, Lady Hardings hospital, PGI Chandigarh, INMHANS Bangalore, JIPMER Pondicherry and Central Institute of Psychiatry in Ranchi to assess their infrastructure and formulate a plan to increase the number of seats.

Safdurjung college is expected to increase the number of seats from 100 to 154 while PGI Chandigarh has been asked to begin the Undergraduate courses. PGI Chandigarh has informe that it has infrastructure of about 100 Undergraduate seats.

However, inspite of these initiatives, the agitation of medicos have intensified. Doctors and medical students are holding rallies, hunger strikes in many parts of the country. Two self immolation attempts one in Delhi and another in Cuttack, were also made yesterday.

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