A protest march by Youth Congress activists to the Government Medical College, Ernakulam, on Tuesday turned violent when they tried to scale the barricades erected by the police in front of the institution.
The activists who entered the campus and gheraoed the administrative block of the medical college were arrested by the Kalamassery police.
The protesters were demanding action against doctors and employees allegedly responsible for the death of Shamna Tasneem and Jerin Michel. The two had died in different incidents in the medical college that had brought to the fore the lack of infrastructure facility and alleged negligence on the part of doctors.
While Shamna was a medical student of the college who had collapsed in June last year allegedly after a reaction to the injection administered, Jerin died last month because of an alleged wrong diagnosis and lack of attention to an emergency. Both cases showed the lack of facilities and expertise in handling emergencies.
The protest march was inaugurated by P.T. Thomas, MLA, who said the government was conspiring against public health institutions. “The LDF is trying to cut down the seats that was provided by the UDF government in Idukki and Harippad medical colleges,” he said. “The Health Minister is interested only in giving promises,” he added.
The protest meeting was held at the second gate of the medical college.
The meeting also asked the government to make public the enquiry report on the death of Shamna Tasneem and to integrate the employees according to PSC eligibility.
