The languages which are now being offered are Hindi, Punjabi, Assamese, Bengali, Odia, Gujarati, Marathi, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Tamil, Urdu and English.
The stir, led by the Federation of Resident Doctors' Association, has been going on for several days, and FORDA also said that several of its members were 'detained' when they tried to hold a protest march from Maulana Azad Medical College (MAMC) to Supreme Court.
The government said that the panel has recommended that family income is a "feasible criterion" for defining EWS and in the current situation, a threshold of Rs 8 lakh of annual family income seems reasonable for determining EWS.
A meeting between a delegation of the Federation of Resident Doctors' Association (FORDA) and Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya took place, but the doctors' body said, the 'response was not satisfactory'.
Dealing with the validity of OBC quota, the bench said, "Merit cannot be reduced to narrow definitions of performance in an open competitive examination which only provides formal equality of opportunity. Competitive examinations assess basic current competency to allocate educational resources but are not reflective of excellence, capabilities and potential of an individual which are also shaped by lived experiences, subsequent training and individual character."
The officials told MPs at the Consultative Committee Meeting on Health that the proposed common tests, the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test for Undergraduate (NEET-UG) and Postgraduate (NEET-PG) medical courses, have been notified for commencement from 2013-14.
It also demanded that the government expedite the proposal of vaccinating individuals aged 12 to 18 years.
Doctors are demanding certain amendments in the bill. According to them, if not amended, the bill will lead to deterioration of medical education and degradation of healthcare services.
The masked, blue gowned and now fogged face shields were highly skilled and capable health care workers -- but inside their protective clothing they were people, with emotions -- sad, fearful, tears pouring down their masks and dripping off the sky blue water repellent gowns. Even Kevin the hulk, the male nurse who I saw lift a patient single-handedly to place an X-ray plate under the chest, was staring at his foot wear, moved to tears. Dr Sanjeeth Peter reveals what goes on in a Covid ICU: The second of a heart-wrenching multi-part diary of a Covid Warrior.
'Some VIP or minister should come to the ward and see how people are suffering.' 'The pain and suffering of the relatives of the patients who are admitted; let them hear their desperate pleas for medicines and oxygen and ventilators and ICU beds; the cries of the kith and kin of doctors and nurses who are being eaten by the pandemic.'
"The provisions of the said bill are nothing short of draconian and promote gross incompetence and mockery of professionals currently working day and night and sacrificing their youth for this broken system," said the protesting doctors.