Agencies Posted online: Friday, December 15, 2006 at 1007 hours IST Updated: Friday, December 15, 2006 at 1855 hours IST
New Delhi, December 15: Fifteen resident doctors of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences are on an indefinite hunger strike to protest the passage in Lok Sabha of the Bill providing 27 per cent reservation to OBCs in government-aided educational institutions.
"Fifteen doctors have gone on an indefinite hunger strike since last night to protest the passage of the quota bill," AIIMS Resident Doctors' Association spokesman Anil Sharma said.
However, he said the doctors would continue to attend duty and services at the AIIMS would not be affected.
"The Bill did not take into account the Veerappa Moily Committee report that had suggested implementation of reservation in a phased manner," Sharma said.
The resident doctors are holding a meeting on Friday evening to decide the future course of action.
The OBC quota bill for centrally-aided educational institutions was on Thursday approved by the Lok Sabha with Government promising to come up ‘very soon’ with a bill providing for reservation in unaided educational institutions. The Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Admission) Bill, 2006, which provides for 27 per cent reservation to OBCs, was passed by a voice vote after amendments moved by the BJP for including minority institutions in its purview was rejected.
The bill has not excluded 'creamy layer' despite the Parliamentary Standing Committee for HRD favouring that this segment should be covered only after giving priority to non-creamy among the backwards.
There had been division within the UPA with several Dravidian parties opposing exclusion of creamy layer, a demand made by the Left parties.
Government has already announced that the quota regime would be made operational from the academic year 2007.
The bill was introduced in Lok Sabha by HRD Minister Arjun Singh on August 25 this year.
The bill provides for a mandatory increase of seats in Central educational institutions, which would be attained over a maximum period of three years beginning with 2007 academic session.
The bill, applicable to Central Universities, IITs and IIMs and certain other institutions established, maintained or aided by the Central government, defines OBCs as the class or classes of citizens who are socially and educationally backward and are so determined by the Central government.
The Minister assured all assistance to these institutions to make the quota regime a reality.
The Bill envisages 27 per cent seat reservation for OBCs in admission in Central educational institutions besides 15 per cent for SCs and 7.5 per cent for STs.
As many as eight institutions of excellence including Homi Bhabha National Institute and its constituent units like Bhabha Atomic Research Centre as also Tata Institute of Fundamental Research and Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Bangalore, are excluded from the quota regime.
The other institutions that are excluded from the quota purview are North-Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Science, Shillong, National Brain Research Centre, Manesar, Gurgaon, Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad, Space Physics Laboratory, Thiruvananthapuram and Indian Institute of Remote Sensing, Dehradun.
The provisions of the Bill will not apply to minority educational institutions.
In a move to ensure that the general category of seats are not reduced, the Bill has made it clear that the increase of seats in any branch of study or faculty was not less than the number of such seats available for the preceding academic session.
New Delhi, December 15: Fifteen resident doctors of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences are on an indefinite hunger strike to protest the passage in Lok Sabha of the Bill providing 27 per cent reservation to OBCs in government-aided educational institutions.
