Patients in India's capital, New Delhi, and other cities are without medical services again on Wednesday as a strike by doctors and medical students continues to paralyze medical facilities.
Medical workers across the country have walked off their jobs to protest a government plan to raise the number of seats reserved for lower caste students in state-funded medical, engineering and other professional colleges. Most hospitals and clinics in New Delhi are without medical workers, with only a skeleton staff available to attend to emergencies.
The extent of disruption in other cities is not clear. India's government wants to increase quotas for disadvantaged castes from 22-and-a-half percent to 49-and-a-half percent.
Critics say the change will reduce the number of slots for students competing on merit and will hurt educational and professional standards.
Gautam Gupta reports on anti-quota situation in West Bengal.