On Wednesday some of the girl students ‘proposed’ to Union Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss, asking him to marry them.

They also held a mock ceremony in a medical college, in Central Mumbai, on Wednesday afternoon. The ‘brides’, otherwise dressed in their white aprons, sported special jewellery worn during traditional Marathi marriages for the ‘wedding’ held in Parel’s KEM Hospital.

“The marriage prospects for a girl will get affected if the duration of the course is increased by a year. This can turn out to be a very big issue having economic repercussions for many,” said spokesperson for the Maharashtra Medical Students Association, Aniruddha Patil.

Since Friday, interns and medical students from across Maharashtra are boycotting training sessions and lectures, respectively, to press the Centre not to go ahead with a legislation that increases the duration of the MBBS course to six and half y
Toll 16 in Hyderabad ears from the present five and half.

Junior doctors of a leading children’s hospital in Hyderabad continued their strike for the fourth day on Wednesday, demanding action against a legislator who allegedly attacked medicos even as healthcare services remained paralysed and one more child died, taking the toll since Sunday to 16.

The stalemate continued with the Andhra Pradesh Junior Doctors Association (APJDA) sticking to its demands for booking a case of attempt to murder against Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) legislator Afsar Khan, his suspension from the assembly and a law to prevent attacks on doctors. The state government has rejected the demands.

One more death was reported on Wednesday, taking the four-day toll to 16 at the Niloufer Children’s hospital, the biggest government-run hospital for children in Andhra Pradesh.