Docs stand with students in agitation against reservation

Nagpur: Hundreds of specialist doctors and medical professionals from the city came out on road in front of Dhantoli garden on Tuesday afternoon and raised anti-reservation slogans. These doctors, most of them well-known private practitioners and owners of private hospitals in the city, were expressing their support to MBBS graduate aspirants of general (open) category.
After implementation of quota for socially and educationally backward classes (SEBC — popularly known as Maratha reservation) and economically weaker sections (EWS) in PG seats, students of open category are left with a very few seats in government and private PG medical colleges. Students have been protesting the “faulty implementation” of these two quotas in PG seats from April 2. On Tuesday, professionals also came to their support and demanded that PG admissions should be done on merit basis.

“This type of implementation of quota is injustice with meritorious students of open category. These MBBS students have worked hard and secured good ranks in PG-NEET. Due to less number of seats, many meritorious students will be deprived of the PG admissions. This will also hit the quality of health care in future,” said ophthalmologist Dr Anil Laddhad.

Doctors attached to Indian Medical Association (IMA) and its bodies brought placards that had ‘Save Merit, Save India’, ‘Merit deprived, nation destroyed’ among other messages. Other students also joined them later in the protest and they decided to escalate it further in the state.

“On April 14, there will be a candle march in Mumbai. On birth anniversary of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar, medical students will be raising the issue of wrong implementation of reservation. In Nagpur too, we are planning to hold such an event,” said Dr Laddhad.

Doctors had earlier planned a silent march from Lokmat Square. But police refused them the permission of holding the march. “Dhantoli cops told us to skip the foot march. They permitted us a small public meeting near Dhantoli garden. It was totally non-political event,” said Dr Rajendra Chandak of IMA. The doctors claimed that the issue is not political. “We are not against reservation but no student of any category should face injustice,” he said.

The doctors who joined the agitation said that the MBBS degree in itself is a great equalizer and it is unfair to pit one doctor against another on the basis of ‘social and educational backwardness’. They demanded that reservation at PG level should be implemented in a different manner.