Reservation issue: Supreme Court plea cuts no ice with students

NEW DELHI: The ongoing strike by students that has been consistently gaining momentum, received yet another impetus when faculties of various medical colleges joined in on Monday. The entire faculty of Lady Hardinge, University College of Medical Studies and Maulana Azad Medical College went on a mass casual leave. On Tuesday, the faculty of AIIMS will go on a hunger strike. However, they will attend to the patients.

The Supreme Court also appealed to the agitating students to give up the strike in the backdrop of its decision to examine the whole issue. Students reacted to it saying that the SC’s directive reinforces their stand on the review of reservations. “Though we are not calling off the strike, taking into consideration the SC appeal and the fact that patients are suffering, we are starting parallel OPDs from tomorrow,” said Amitasha Sinha from LHMC.

At the AIIMS campus, the mood is tense. Though the government did give a written note to the students acceding to a few of their demands, students are unhappy. “The first problem that we had with the note is that it was addressed specifically to medical students only. Also they have specified that the total number of seats available to medical students will not be reduced, but have not said anywhere that the number of seats in individual institutes will be maintained,” said Dr Harsh Kumar.

Meanwhile, students from the University of California at Berkeley visited AIIMS on Monday to understand the issue firsthand.