Medicos pray, tonsure heads, to protest rural posting

Chennai, Nov 30 (UNI) Staging of plays, tonsuring of heads and offering special prayers in temples marked the agitation by medicos, who continued to boycott their classes, in protest against the Centre's move to make one year rural posting compulsory.

In Chennai city, the medicos who donated blood and took the brooms in their hand to clean up the hospital premises yesterday, staged a play highlighting how the medicos would perform if they were posted in rural areas before completing their degree.

A report from Coimbatore said ten students tonsured their heads as a mark of protest. About 50 women medicos performed ''Adi Pradakshanam'' (going around the precincts of the temple step-by-step) at a Goddess temple in the textile city for fulfillment of their demand by the Centre.

They also launched a Candle light vigil last night.

They were on war path for the last three weeks as they believe that the Centre's decision would result in increasing the MBBS course from the present five and half years to six and half years and wanted the Union Government to drop the move.

The medicos warned that if the Centre did not concede their demand they would launch a nation-wide indefinite fast in the next couple of days.

UNI