Sunday, May 21, 2006

PRESS RELEASE

We received an official appeal from the Prime Minister for “an amicable solution”. We welcome this initiative. Our negotiation team met with the Health Secretary, Mr Hota in the presence of Prof P Venugopal, Director, AIIMS, Dr Salhan, MS, Safdarjung, Dr Chaturvedi, MS RML and Mr Mayank Sharma, AIIMS.
The Health Secretary, on behalf of the government informed us that the issue of setting up a judicial commission was not negotiable and the government is not willing to set up such a commission. We reiterated to the government that this commission forms the core of any solution to the issue and we will not settle for anything less.
We fail to understand why the government is adamant on its stand when it agrees that such a commission is not binding on the Parliament.


The movement started by the Youth for Equality continued to gain momentum today. Support for our cause has been pouring in from all walks of life. More and more educational institutions have come out in support. 215 residents of SGPGI, Lucknow have been on hunger strike since Thursday. PGI Chandigarh doctors have entered the 6th day of their strike and are continuing with their agitation despite eviction notices being served to over 250 doctors.

The claim that students are being forced into anti-reservation protests is totally false. We all feel strongly about the issue and are under no external pressure to join the movement.

Evacuation orders have been served to the Senior Residents/ Senior Demonstrators to vacate their hostels within 24 hours. Our reply is very clear. These threats will not bog us down, but will only strengthen our resolve to fight it out till the end.
On the 22nd of May 2006, the UPA Government completes two years in power. On this day, we appeal to the general public to come out in support of us to observe a black out by switching off all lights for 10 minutes from 8pm. We need your support in our agitation against caste based reservation.

Wednesday, May 17, 2006

Today, we complete the 4th day of the hunger strike.. Over 80 hours have passed with over 100 educated medical young students braving the relentless summer heat without a morsel of food. A few are falling seriously ill and some have had to be taken to the casualty, but our resolve continues. We strongly condemn the governments extreme apathy towards the heart rendering condition of these students. Are they waiting for one of them to do die before they wake up?

Termination letters have been issued to the senior residents of AIIMS. These pressure tactics only strengthen our resolve and unity. We shall not relent till our demands are met. Today at 730pm, we celebrate holi by burning these letters as our reply to the administration.

A pro-reservation rally forcefully entered AIIMS campus this afternoon. It was led by Mr Chattar Singh, a close friend and aide of none other than our HRD minister Mr Arjun Singh. We strongly condemn this attempt at inciting riots and creating a law and order situation.

We, as responsible citizens and doctors continue to feel our responsibility towards the society. To this end, we shall extend our support to the Pulse Polio Programme on 21st May 2006 in public interest.

We are holding AN ALL INDIA BLOOD DONATION CAMPAIGN on the 19th of May. The Delhi camp will be held at AIIMS.

We were invited by Mr Oscar Fernandes (Honorable Minister for State (S and PI» and Mr Pranab Mukherjee (H'ble Minister of Defence) for a meeting. No conclusions were arrived at and their official response is awaited.

The protest gained additional momentum with many more Hospitals and Institutions ftom Delhi, to name a few . Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Hospital, Ram Manohar Lohia (RML) Hospital, Hindu Rao Hospital, VP Chest Institute, Lala Ram Swaroop Chest and TB Hospital, Chacha Nehru Bal Chikitsala, PGI Chandigarh, SMS Jaipur, Goa, West Bengal, J and K, Tripura and many more . Interns of Belgaum Medical College are on an indefinite hunger strike since yesterday.

A protest march has been organized by the MCD Hospital of Delhi ITO. Lal Quila to Raj Ghat at 1 pm tomorrow, the 18th May . A protest representation of lawyers under the All India Young Lawyers Association shall be coming to AIIMS tomorrow to express their support.
Students of IIT Delhi have also joined the hunger strike . School students have also pledged their support.

We appeal to the general public to join us in this protest which affects each and everyone of us.

Tuesday, May 16, 2006

On behalf of the youth for equality we would like to state that :
1. We are very disappointed with the outcome of the CCPA meeting held yesterday. However we appreciate the sentiments of Mr. Pranab Mukherjee.
Sir, If you all think of us as your children please pay attention to our demands and do not treat us as step children.
2. Mr. Arjun Singh's statement that they will not take back the O.B.C. reservation has confirmed our belief that he is not sensitive to the students' problems and is not ready for any discussion. Also we have not received any official letter for talks from the Honorable minister.
3. We also welcome the idea of an increase in the number of seats,however our stand against the existing reservation policy remains unchanged.
4. We would like to thank our colleagues from Shimla, Rohtak, Amritsar, Faridkot,Chandigarh, Aurangabad, Patiala, Sonam, and Orissa, who have been on a hunger strike and are with us in our cause.
5. We also appreciate the support we have received from various sections of the society ranging from our patients, faculty of various medical colleges, private practitioners, students from lIT Delhi, NSIT Delhi and IP university students, management institutes, members of the law fraternity and various resident welfare associations.
6. We, again, appeal to The Honorable Prime Minister to step in and set up a nonpolitical judicial committee to review the existing reservation policy. We have sent repeated requests previously and a fax today seeking an appointment with the Prime Minster. Sir, we are. not against the Dalits or any backward class and we have thought of more just means of applying reservation. Kindly grant us an audience. 7. We, also, appeal to people from all strata of society to come forward and support us in our fight against this social evil.

Monday, May 15, 2006

15th MAY PRESS RELEASE

Youth for equality is an initiative by medical students and professionals from all five medical colleges of Delhi namely All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Lady Hardinge Medical College, Maulana Azad Medical College, University College of Medical Sciences and Vardhaman Mahavir Medical College; who have joined hands to oppose the recent recommendations by the government to make 27% reservation for OBCs.
It is indeed very unfortunate that government of the day has scant regard for merit. It is guided solely by considerations of caste based votebank politics. We oppose such reservations in totality especially in a field like medicine, where crucial decisions regarding life and death are made every second. Exacting standards should be maintained for selection of candidates who seek admissions to medical colleges.
We oppose reservations because
1. Reservations have been a massive failure. That the government seeks to extend reservations is the best evidence of the inability of such measures to help in upliftment of the underprivileged.
2. Reservations bring a sense of complacency amongst the beneficiaries thereby adversely affecting the standard of medical services available to the general public.
3. Reservations are actually a gimmick by the political leadership of the country to mask their failure in providing good facilities for primary and secondary education to the downtrodden.
4. The govt time and again has asked the youth to serve the nation instead of looking for greener pastures offshore. At the same time, such regressive steps will only increase the trend of brain drain.
5. This proposed measure seeks to divide the youth of India and is a replication of the british policy of “DIVIDE AND RULE”. We, as concerned citizens vehemently oppose this caste based reservation policy.
6. This measure would be of most benefit to a section of the population which does not need crutches for its upliftment. This would further dampen the ability of this section of the population to strive for excellence in their respective spheres.

This movement is supported by the IMA.and we have formed a national coordination committee to coordinate all the movements taking place all over the country.
Its an appeal to all the students and general public to come forward and join the cause.
(For Youth for Equality)