Private hospitals observe bandh

Tirupati: Following a call given by the State Committee of Doctors JAC, all private hospitals, diagnostic centres and medical shops were closed in Chittoor town. All private doctors assembled at a medical camp near VV Mahal and paid floral tributes to Telugu Talli portrait. They resolved to continue protests till the Union government withdraws the decision on bifurcation.

Dr Srihari Rao, convenor, Doctors JAC, Chittoor district, said that more than 500 doctors from about 70 hospitals assembled at the relay hunger strike camp located near VV Mahal and paid floral tributes to Telugu Talli portrait. With the division of the State, the people from the Seemandhra region will lose the modern medical facilities, which are only available at Hyderabad at present, once the State was divided and Hyderabad goes to the Telangana region. Many medical students will lose higher education opportunities since the reservation plays a major role once Hyderabad becomes the capital of Telangana state, he added.

Earlier, the private doctors took out a rally from the Municipal Office to the medical hunger strike camp and stressed on their single agenda: An integrated State. Students and artists performed cultural programmess by singing and dancing. Experts from various disciplines explained about the need for unified State and problems with the division of the State. In the evening, all doctors took out a torch light rally from the hunger strike camp to Gandhi Road junction in which hundreds of doctors took part. They raised slogans in favour of unified State and demanded the Union government to keep the State united by rejecting the CWC’s decision over Telangana issue.

Munirathnam, a driver of Sri Venkateswara Veterinary University, made a suicide attempt by dousing his body with petrol like liquid for the cause of Samaikyandhra. As this incident took place while all the employees were staging a protest on Tirupati-Chittoor highway near the main entrance of university, the other staff rescued him. The driver was directly participating in several Samaikyandhra protests since a month. With the intervention of the staff, who was present at the site, he was prevented from self immolation. Interestingly, the media persons received information about his suicide attempt a few minutes before the incident.