AIIMS chief's role questioned

Doctors and students agitating in favour of quota have questioned the role of All India Institute of Medical Sciences director in the ongoing anti-reservation agitation.

"How can the director of the institute lead a delegation of anti-reservation students to meet the prime minister?" asked the Medicos' Front for Equal Opportunities, a student-teacher outfit in AIIMS demanding reservation.

Director P Venugopal led the delegation that met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh soon after his return from the Kashmir Valley last week.

Dr Vikas Vajpayi, convenor of the front, said that the AIIMS director represented all categories of students. "He cannot openly be seen supporting casteist forces. It is not only unconstitutional but unethical," he said, adding a public interest petition is languishing in the Supreme Court challenging the AIIMS authorities' defiance of court orders and permission granted to the students to carry out an agitation inside the campus.

The Front has also accused the Centre of indirectly supporting the anti-reservation stir. "Its attitude is clearly ambivalent and the method of dealing with an agitation is unprecedented," the front said.

"The medicos are on strike and the health minister is away in Geneva, while the talks are being conducted non-stop by the Prime Minister's Office. And there seems to be no end to the negotiations. How is this possible?" asked Vajpayi.

"When the government announced its decision to go ahead with the reservation after an announcement by Defence Minister Prabnab Mukherji, how can the PMO continue to hold talks. And what do the students want when protection of general category seats has been assured? It is surely being stage managed by some other political forces using the students,'' the front said.

The front accused the RSS and BJP of stage-managing the entire anti-reservation campaign. Vajpayi showed pamphlets distributed by the BJP among students on Saturday with a statement of party leader L K Advani saying that he was against reservation.

"On Sunday, Advani spoke against reservation. Without their support, such a five-star agitation cannot be held and sustained for two weeks,'' Vajpayi said.

Meanwhile, Youth for Equality today welcomed the support extended by Advani to the cause of anti-reservation agitation.