Long queues of patients were seen at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) on Saturday signalling its return to normalcy.
NEW DELHI: Long queues of patients were seen at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) on Saturday signalling its return to normalcy after resident doctors suspended their protest against caste-based quotas.
However, the doctors at AIIMS and other hospitals that were paralysed by the anti-quota stir said they would file public interest litigation (PIL) in the Supreme Court within two weeks against the quota bill.
"Some of us joined work last evening but a majority of the agitating doctors and medical students reported this morning. All of us are quite happy to be back in the hospital," said Nandan Srivastava, joint secretary of the resident doctors' association of Maulana Azad Medical College (MAMC).
"It's not wise to leave the patients unattended. The resident doctors have decided to continue the movement in different forms and file a PIL within the next two weeks," Srivastava said.
Meanwhile, thousands of patients both from Delhi and elsewhere were seen queuing up in front of the out patients department wards of AIIMS.
"It's certainly good news for us patients who come to the hospital from different corners of the country. I was refused treatment for my ailing son for the last two days, but today the doctors attended to him. My son is suffering from tuberculosis," said Suman Deka, who has come from Assam.
Authorities at AIIMS also breathed a sigh of relief after the resident doctors joined work in full force on Saturday morning.
"Though we had a contingency plan during the last two days, now with the resident doctors back it is very heartening. It is good news for both the hospital authorities and the patients," said Shakti Gupta, chief spokesman of AIIMS.
Gupta, also the chief medical officer of R.P. Centre of Ophthalmology, said the usual OPD schedule registration was back from Saturday morning.
However, medicos said that their agitation would continue but in a more civil manner. The reservation bill providing for 27 percent reservation for Other Backward Classes in institutes of higher education was on Friday referred to a parliamentary standing committee.
"We will certainly like to meet the parliamentary standing committee members and give a presentation about our view point. Besides, we will hold seminars, exhibitions, photo shows and hold small protests at different important junctions during the period," said Srivastava, a leading member of the anti-quota agitators group.
Hundreds of resident doctors from all the medical colleges of Delhi had gone of mass leave for two days. On Friday they suspended their agitation for the next three months.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}