Monday, April 23, 2007
Sheetudeep Blog
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Friday, August 25, 2006
Reservations, Arjun Singh and the Love Goddess
Watch the full video for complete FuN.......
Click on the photoQuota Bill tabled; medicos call off street protest
NEW DELHI: The quota Bill was tabled in Parliament, was referred to a Standing Committee and junior doctors and other students in the Capital called off their street protest. All by Friday afternoon.
Student leaders said they had feared an immediate passing of the Bill in Parliament and claimed that their protests had made the government put off pushing it immediately. The Bill is now expected to be taken up in the winter session of Parliament after the Standing Committee has worked out the finer details of implementation.
The Bill provides for 27 per cent reservation for OBCs in Central educational institutions. It is to be made operational from the academic year 2007 and makes no mention of the creamy layer. The Bill was cleared by the Union Cabinet this week.
As the monsoon session of Parliament came to a close, matters cooled down and a huge crowd of demonstrators at Jantar Mantar dispersed. The medicos and students said they were also weighing the option of taking the legal route now to stall the Centre’s reservation move.
Earlier, as the Bill was tabled by HRD minister Arjun Singh in the Lok Sabha, resident doctors from five prestigious hospitals in the Capital were joined by students from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, Jawaharlal Nehru University and others at Jantar Mantar, shouting slogans against the government, in particular, against the minister. Shouts of Vande Mataram rent the air and the protesters promised a real-life Rang de Basanti ”.
The air was young, electric, angry. Long stretches from Jantar Mantar were cordoned off and the place milled with policemen. Water cannons lay in wait, as they had done on Thursday. So did an ambulance.
Late on Thursday night, junior doctors that had courted arrest, were finally released in the Capital. Resident doctors in Delhi had threatened a shutdown of medical services if their compatriots were not released. Earlier in the day, the police had sprayed protesters outside the Supreme Court with water cannons and shelled them with tear gas. Several medicos and students had courted arrest.
Student leaders said they had feared an immediate passing of the Bill in Parliament and claimed that their protests had made the government put off pushing it immediately. The Bill is now expected to be taken up in the winter session of Parliament after the Standing Committee has worked out the finer details of implementation.
The Bill provides for 27 per cent reservation for OBCs in Central educational institutions. It is to be made operational from the academic year 2007 and makes no mention of the creamy layer. The Bill was cleared by the Union Cabinet this week.
As the monsoon session of Parliament came to a close, matters cooled down and a huge crowd of demonstrators at Jantar Mantar dispersed. The medicos and students said they were also weighing the option of taking the legal route now to stall the Centre’s reservation move.
Earlier, as the Bill was tabled by HRD minister Arjun Singh in the Lok Sabha, resident doctors from five prestigious hospitals in the Capital were joined by students from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, Jawaharlal Nehru University and others at Jantar Mantar, shouting slogans against the government, in particular, against the minister. Shouts of Vande Mataram rent the air and the protesters promised a real-life Rang de Basanti ”.
The air was young, electric, angry. Long stretches from Jantar Mantar were cordoned off and the place milled with policemen. Water cannons lay in wait, as they had done on Thursday. So did an ambulance.
Late on Thursday night, junior doctors that had courted arrest, were finally released in the Capital. Resident doctors in Delhi had threatened a shutdown of medical services if their compatriots were not released. Earlier in the day, the police had sprayed protesters outside the Supreme Court with water cannons and shelled them with tear gas. Several medicos and students had courted arrest.
Thursday, August 24, 2006
Mandal II: Protesting doctors, police clash at SC
NEW DELHI: Five junior doctors, including two women, were injured when police sprayed anti-quota protesters with water cannons and shelled them with tear gas outside the Supreme Court on Thursday. Resolute Resident Doctors said it only firmed their resolve.
The doctors have joined other students to protest against the Centre's decision to introduce reservation in government-aided educational institutions needs to be taken to another level. On Wednesday they observed a black day and on Thursday about 850 junior doctors have gone on mass casual leave.
The run-in with the police happened when doctors broke a police barricade and the police, ready for trouble, began to use water cannons. The police had two water tankers on the ready.
The doctors have joined other students to protest against the Centre's decision to introduce reservation in government-aided educational institutions needs to be taken to another level. On Wednesday they observed a black day and on Thursday about 850 junior doctors have gone on mass casual leave.
The run-in with the police happened when doctors broke a police barricade and the police, ready for trouble, began to use water cannons. The police had two water tankers on the ready.
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
AIIMS doctors on mass casual leave today
NEW DELHI: Thursday is going to be a not-so-pleasant deja vu for patients at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).
More than 700 resident doctors from AIIMS and Maulana Azad Medical College are expected to go on mass casual leave in protest against the OBC reservation Bill.
Under graduates of AIIMS, Maulana Azad Medical College and UCMS will also go on a 24-hour strike. The situation will be reviewed after a day and the future course of action decided accordingly.
Authorities at AIIMS have decided to stop OPD registration at 10 am on Thursday instead of the usual 11 am to cope with the mass absenteeism.
The official stand is that emergency and in-patient services will not suffer but with just about 500 faculty members and 300-odd residents expected to be on duty that would be a tough task, admit insiders. On an average day, the patient turnout at AIIMS is about 7,600.
AIIMS spokesperson Dr Shakti Gupta said: "We have a contingency plan ready, one of which is to curtail OPD timings because one doctor can only see about 40-50 patients in a day and once a patient is registered he/she has to be attended to. Anyway not all residents will go on leave, the available work force will be pressed into service and things are expected to be normal."
Resident doctors at the institute sported black ribbons on Wednesday as a mark of protest. Said Dr Vinod Patra, president of the Resident Doctors’ Association: "We are appreciative of some of the measures adopted by the government like the staggered implementation and preservation of the number of general category seats. But what was the hurry of placing the Bill for Cabinet approval when it was already sub judice in the Supreme Court? We are still hoping that the Bill will be withdrawn in view of overwhelming public opinion against it."
More than 700 resident doctors from AIIMS and Maulana Azad Medical College are expected to go on mass casual leave in protest against the OBC reservation Bill.
Under graduates of AIIMS, Maulana Azad Medical College and UCMS will also go on a 24-hour strike. The situation will be reviewed after a day and the future course of action decided accordingly.
Authorities at AIIMS have decided to stop OPD registration at 10 am on Thursday instead of the usual 11 am to cope with the mass absenteeism.
The official stand is that emergency and in-patient services will not suffer but with just about 500 faculty members and 300-odd residents expected to be on duty that would be a tough task, admit insiders. On an average day, the patient turnout at AIIMS is about 7,600.
AIIMS spokesperson Dr Shakti Gupta said: "We have a contingency plan ready, one of which is to curtail OPD timings because one doctor can only see about 40-50 patients in a day and once a patient is registered he/she has to be attended to. Anyway not all residents will go on leave, the available work force will be pressed into service and things are expected to be normal."
Resident doctors at the institute sported black ribbons on Wednesday as a mark of protest. Said Dr Vinod Patra, president of the Resident Doctors’ Association: "We are appreciative of some of the measures adopted by the government like the staggered implementation and preservation of the number of general category seats. But what was the hurry of placing the Bill for Cabinet approval when it was already sub judice in the Supreme Court? We are still hoping that the Bill will be withdrawn in view of overwhelming public opinion against it."
Saturday, June 10, 2006
Govt not to review reservation policy: Chidambaram
NEW DELHI: The Government, which has proposed expanding quotas for OBCs in higher education, has not yet established the basis for arriving at the decision and also has no plans to review the country's caste-based reservation policy, says Finance Minister P Chidambaram.
Though the Centre has plenty of time to reply to the Supreme Court's queries on reservation, including its rationale, the lack of a clear basis casts doubts on the fairness of the government's decision to expand quotas.
"The Ministry has to put together all the material available to it reach the conclusion of 27 per cent... The material will be put together. Wait for the material," Chidambaram said in an interview to 'Devil's Advocate' to be telecast on a news channel on Sunday night.
The court, on May 29, gave the Centre eights weeks to reply to a series of queries on reservations.
When repeatedly asked that his answer suggested the government had announced a decision in favour of reservations without evaluating the need, he said, "The government will answer in a proper forum, in the Parliament, in the Supreme Court (but) not in an interview."
He, however, said the government would compile its answers on the basis of various state reports of Other Backward Classes (OBC) numbers, the Mandal report and the NSSO surveys.
Though the Centre has plenty of time to reply to the Supreme Court's queries on reservation, including its rationale, the lack of a clear basis casts doubts on the fairness of the government's decision to expand quotas.
"The Ministry has to put together all the material available to it reach the conclusion of 27 per cent... The material will be put together. Wait for the material," Chidambaram said in an interview to 'Devil's Advocate' to be telecast on a news channel on Sunday night.
The court, on May 29, gave the Centre eights weeks to reply to a series of queries on reservations.
When repeatedly asked that his answer suggested the government had announced a decision in favour of reservations without evaluating the need, he said, "The government will answer in a proper forum, in the Parliament, in the Supreme Court (but) not in an interview."
He, however, said the government would compile its answers on the basis of various state reports of Other Backward Classes (OBC) numbers, the Mandal report and the NSSO surveys.
Rajeev Goswami's mother pays a visit
NEW DELHI: Agitating doctors and students at AIIMS had an unexpected visitor on Wednesday afternoon who had come all the way from Michigan to support their cause - Nandrani Goswami, the mother of Rajeev Goswami.
Rajeev had been on a hunger strike at Deshbandhu College for 11 days, before he became the face of the anti-Mandal agitation in the 1990s by attempting to immolate himself.
Nandrani, who now stays with her daughter at Michigan, told the medicos: "That time has come again when you students need to stand up and protest against reservation.
I have come here to support you. You must continue the agitation, but remember never to take an extreme step like suicide."
She broke down as she said, "My son gave his life for this. Mera baccha us din se theek nahi raha. Is aarakshan ke peeche usne jaan de di. (He never recovered after the immolation bid)."
Rajeev died of multi-organ failure in 2004. Added Rajeev's niece Dolly: "Rajeev's father has been calling up and asking us to repeatedly take her to AIIMS. She came to India last week, but has been unwell ever since."
Nandrani could not control her tears as she recalled the day when her only son set himself afire. "He told me not to come to the spot.
'Ma, mera dil dahal jaayega, mujhe bus thoda sa natak karna hai,' he had said. So I was sitting in a park near the spot where he set himself afire and I watched him fight the flames," she said.
"His children often ask me why he did this. And I tell them how even as a child, he would always ask about Bhagat Singh's sacrifice. That's how he was."
Rajeev had been on a hunger strike at Deshbandhu College for 11 days, before he became the face of the anti-Mandal agitation in the 1990s by attempting to immolate himself.
Nandrani, who now stays with her daughter at Michigan, told the medicos: "That time has come again when you students need to stand up and protest against reservation.
I have come here to support you. You must continue the agitation, but remember never to take an extreme step like suicide."
She broke down as she said, "My son gave his life for this. Mera baccha us din se theek nahi raha. Is aarakshan ke peeche usne jaan de di. (He never recovered after the immolation bid)."
Rajeev died of multi-organ failure in 2004. Added Rajeev's niece Dolly: "Rajeev's father has been calling up and asking us to repeatedly take her to AIIMS. She came to India last week, but has been unwell ever since."
Nandrani could not control her tears as she recalled the day when her only son set himself afire. "He told me not to come to the spot.
'Ma, mera dil dahal jaayega, mujhe bus thoda sa natak karna hai,' he had said. So I was sitting in a park near the spot where he set himself afire and I watched him fight the flames," she said.
"His children often ask me why he did this. And I tell them how even as a child, he would always ask about Bhagat Singh's sacrifice. That's how he was."
