Chennai:
There was already considerable friction within Tamil Nadu's principal rival parties following the Jayalalithaa government's decision to convert the Rs 1500-crore new Assembly complex into a super-specialty hospital three years ago.
What has now made the matters worse is the state government's decision to hire over 80 doctors, including senior consultants, without following the 69 per cent reservation norms prevalent in the state.
The opposition parties are crying foul, with M Karunanidhi-led DMK planning to launch a protest on January 21.
The sprawling assembly complex, a pet project of Mr Karunanidhi, was converted into a hospital by Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on the pretext that there wasn't enough space for the entire Secretariat, which is presently functioning from the Fort St George campus.
"We are fighting to get reservation in the IITs and AIIMS. But in Tamil Nadu, the bastion of the social justice movement, this government is cheating the people in the name of Dravidian party, Anna and MG Ramachandran," DMK spokesperson TKS Elangovan told NDTV.
When NDTV contacted the state authorities, they refused to speak. But sources said the appointments to super-specialty hospitals and their contract employees don't come under the prevalent reservation norms. They also said that some government doctors, who were recruited following the reservation rules, would be deputed to the hew hospital.
Whether or not that will be done will be closely watched in a state where the controversial decision has touched a raw political nerve ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, due by May.
What has now made the matters worse is the state government's decision to hire over 80 doctors, including senior consultants, without following the 69 per cent reservation norms prevalent in the state.
The opposition parties are crying foul, with M Karunanidhi-led DMK planning to launch a protest on January 21.
The sprawling assembly complex, a pet project of Mr Karunanidhi, was converted into a hospital by Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on the pretext that there wasn't enough space for the entire Secretariat, which is presently functioning from the Fort St George campus.
"We are fighting to get reservation in the IITs and AIIMS. But in Tamil Nadu, the bastion of the social justice movement, this government is cheating the people in the name of Dravidian party, Anna and MG Ramachandran," DMK spokesperson TKS Elangovan told NDTV.
When NDTV contacted the state authorities, they refused to speak. But sources said the appointments to super-specialty hospitals and their contract employees don't come under the prevalent reservation norms. They also said that some government doctors, who were recruited following the reservation rules, would be deputed to the hew hospital.
Whether or not that will be done will be closely watched in a state where the controversial decision has touched a raw political nerve ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, due by May.
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