Medicos on Wednesday cranked up their agitation despite an appeal by President A P J Abdul Kalam to end their hunger strike.
NEW DELHI: Medicos on Wednesday cranked up their agitation despite an appeal by President A P J Abdul Kalam to end their hunger strike and called civil disobedience by professionals and traders on Thursday after the UPA government chose to go ahead with quotas for OBCs in higher education.
The President asked the students who met him "to come out of their fasting mode and resume normal student life" and assured that the quantum of seats in educational institutions would be increased.
Kalam said that keeping in view the interests of all sections of the student community and to meet their aspirations for opportunities for higher education, his government will be simultaneously increasing the number of seats in the educational institutions, according to a Rashtrapati Bhawan release here.
"The number of seats in educational institutions will be increased and the Oversight Committee set up for the purpose will draw the action plan within a stipulated time," Kalam told the students.
The assurance from the President came when student delegations from various universities met him on the issue of reservation.
However, the students stuck to their demand for setting up a separate Empowered Commission to examine the quota policy.
As the agitation against reservation for OBCs in central educational institutions entered the 13th day, All-India Institute of Medical Sciences resident doctors' association asked traders, resident welfare associations, bank employees and bar associations not to work from 9 am to 12 on Thursday.
Backed by Delhi Medical Association and Indian Medical Association, it also announced a "Delhi Chalo" rally on May 28 and the medicos took up the task of preventing the recruitment drive by the government to replace them.
Interviews at Safdarjung Hospital were postponed even as action by the government for eviction of the striking doctors from hostels was still pending.
Paying little heed to the 24-hour notice by the Uttar Pradesh government to return to work, doctors of Sanjay Gandhi Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences in Lucknow took out a 'scooter rally' and continued their indefinite strike.
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