Maharashtra medical students interns end stir

MUMBAI: Medical students and interns across Maharashtra called off their indefinite strike on Saturday after getting assurances from Union Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss that the MBBS course will not be extended by a year.
   
They had been boycotting classes and training sessions since November 30 demanding that the current duration of five-year MBBS course be maintained.
   
"We have got a statement of assurance from Ramadoss that the duration of the course will remain the same and the rural posting will be within that time period," Maharashtra Medical Students' Association spokesperson Basavraj Kadalage said.
   
He said they met Maharashtra Minister for Higher Education Dilip Valse-Patil, who assured them the students and interns would not be marked absent for the strike period.
   
Kadalage said the students also received a fax from BJP leader and former Petroleum Minister Ram Naik saying that after the Centre's assurance they should go back to classes.
   
The student leader said Maharashtra could not fully participate in a meeting of the Centre-appointed Sambasiva Committee that is conducting a countrywide survey on the issue. Its members were here on November 21 to find out the opinion about the duration of the course and rural internship.
   
"We received the information (about panel's Mumbai visit) very late and many of the students' representatives, deans of medical colleges, teachers and parents could not attend the meeting of the committee," Kadalge said.