Zee News     

New Delhi, Apr 27: Protests erupted on Wednesday on the streets of Delhi over the emotive issue of reservation in institutes of higher learning when students of five leading medical colleges held a demonstration and clashed with police and decided to go on a strike.

Police used teargas shells and water canons to disperse the 400-odd students who tried to meet Union Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh, who has talked about 27 per cent reservation in elite educational institutes, but were whisked away to Jantar Mantar by the Delhi Police personnel.

Prevented from a meeting with Singh, the students of AIIMS, Safdarjung, Maulana Azad Medical College, Lady Hardinge and Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital, after demonstrating at Jantar Mantar started to move away from the scheduled venue of protest, triggering a clash with the police.

The students, under the banner of "youth for equality", blocked the roads creating traffic snarls in and around busy Connaught Place area.

Amitasha Sinha, a medical student leader and spokesman of `youth for equality` said the strike is aimed at pressing for withdrawal of quota and a meeting with Arjun Singh.

"At the moment it is an all-out strike by students of AIIMS, Safdarjung, Maulana Azad Medical College, Lady Hardinge and Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital," she said.

"The politicians are catering to their vote banks. Not one party opposed the bill in Parliament. They are playing divide and rule," Supriya Gupta, president Lady Hardigne College Students` body, she said.