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The 2006 anti-reservation protests: how a doctors' strike over OBC quotas ended in the Supreme Court

An announcement on 27 per cent seats for OBCs, a hunger strike at AIIMS, police action in Delhi and Mumbai, rival rallies, a court order that ended the strike and a 2008 verdict that upheld the quota without the creamy layer.

Reservation and casteStudents and educationDelhiMumbaiPatna

Published 12 Oct 2026Updated 13 Oct 202611 min readBy Protest Record

Medical students and resident doctors in Delhi went on hunger strike at AIIMS on 14 May 2006 against the UPA government's plan to reserve 27 per cent of seats in central institutions, including AIIMS, the IITs and the IIMs, for Other Backward Classes. The strike lasted 18 days and ended on 31 May only after the Supreme Court warned of contempt. The Lok Sabha passed the quota bill that December, and on 10 April 2008 the Supreme Court upheld it but excluded the OBC "creamy layer".

27%OBC quota proposed for central higher education institutions
18 dayslength of the AIIMS hunger strike, 14 to 31 May 2006, per The Tribune
~20,000people at the 27 May anti-quota rally at Ram Lila Maidan, per The Tribune
54%seat increase needed to protect general seats, per a government note
49.5%total reservation in central institutions after the 2008 verdict

Arjun Singh's 27 per cent, on top of 22.5

The plan surfaced in early April 2006. On 8 April The Tribune reported that the Election Commission had asked Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Arjun Singh to explain the announcement, and that the Union Health Ministry wanted the same quota in the medical institutes it ran The Tribune. The OBC share would be added to the existing 15 per cent for Scheduled Castes and 7.5 per cent for Scheduled Tribes The Tribune, taking total reservation to 49.5 per cent.

A Tribune editorial on 10 April argued that "merit will be a casualty" and that the target was OBC votes in the coming Uttar Pradesh election The Tribune, editorial. The legal ground had been prepared the year before. A 2005 Supreme Court judgment striking down reservation in unaided institutions led to calls for a constitutional amendment The Tribune, and the Constitution (93rd Amendment) Act 2005 let the Centre make a special law for OBC reservation in higher education The Tribune.

Five medical colleges and a forum called Youth for Equality

The strike was run by Youth for Equality, a forum of students, interns and resident doctors from Delhi's five medical colleges: Maulana Azad, Lady Hardinge, AIIMS, University College of Medical Sciences and Vardhaman Mahavir UNI via Oneindia. Resident doctors' associations, the AIIMS Faculty Association, the Indian Medical Association (IMA) and the Delhi Medical Association backed it at different points UNI via Oneindia.

UNI listed four demands: roll back the 27 per cent proposal at once, set up a committee to review national reservation policy, get the Prime Minister to intervene, and act against the police officers who handled protesters UNI via Oneindia. IIT, JNU and Delhi University students, schoolchildren and traders' bodies joined later The Tribune.

Three weeks in May

  1. Water cannons in Delhi

    Medical students marching towards the Prime Minister's Office were stopped by police using water cannons and tear gas, and hundreds were detained in police stations. The IMA called the police action "barbaric" and called a token strike The Tribune.

  2. Lathicharge in Mumbai

    Police in Mumbai beat medical students who had blocked a road near the Governor's residence, The Tribune reported; the IMA sought a judicial probe The Tribune. Claim · Police Police said the doctors tried to enter Raj Bhavan. Claim · Doctors Doctors called this untrue and said the protest was silent UNI via Oneindia.

  3. Hunger strike at AIIMS

    An indefinite hunger strike began at AIIMS around 10.30 am. UNI put the number at more than 200 doctors and students; The Tribune said about 100 UNI via Oneindia The Tribune. Protests spread to Amritsar, Ahmedabad and three cities in Orissa.

  4. NHRC seeks reports

    The National Human Rights Commission asked the Delhi and Mumbai police commissioners for factual reports within two weeks, and appealed to striking doctors to resume work for patients' sake NHRC.

  5. Pro-quota clash in Patna

    Pro-reservation medical students in Patna attacked journalists and police, and police lathicharged them. Over 35 people were injured, and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar ordered an inquiry The Tribune.

  6. Rally and PM's appeal rejected

    Hundreds marched from Maulana Azad Medical College to Jantar Mantar UNI via Oneindia. Students rejected Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's appeal to end the strike and a Group of Ministers' offer to add seats first IANS via Arab News.

  7. Government decides

    The UPA-Left coordination committee agreed to bring in the 27 per cent quota from the 2007 academic year while raising seats so that general category places were not cut. Youth for Equality said it would continue the strike The Tribune.

  8. Faculty leave, PM meeting, big rally

    The AIIMS faculty went on mass casual leave UNI via Oneindia. The Prime Minister met a delegation on 26 May The Tribune. On 27 May close to 20,000 people attended a rally at Ram Lila Maidan, where a 23-year-old student attempted self-immolation The Tribune.

  9. Supreme Court warning

    A vacation bench took suo motu notice of the strike and warned that continuing it could attract contempt. Youth for Equality first said it would continue on legal advice The Tribune.

  10. Strike called off

    Students of five medical colleges and seven resident associations, including those of AIIMS and Lady Hardinge, agreed to return to work that night The Tribune Reuters via Al Jazeera.

"Beaten like animals": police in Delhi and Mumbai

The protesters compared the police action to "another 'Jallianwala Bagh'", where they were "beaten like animals", UNI reported on 14 May UNI via Oneindia. Reuters later wrote that the agitation "turned violent in New Delhi and Mumbai when police caned doctors" Reuters via Al Jazeera.

More than 1,000 doctors gathered at Azad Maidan in Mumbai on 15 May against the lathicharge UNI via Oneindia. Even supporters of the quota objected to it. Haryana Congress chief Bhajan Lal condemned the Mumbai lathicharge UNI via Oneindia, and Arjun Singh said "beating students" was no solution The Tribune. We found no report of what the police reports sought by the NHRC said.

Pro-quota marches and a split in the IMA

The first pro-quota student march in the country, according to The Tribune, was in Patna on 19 May, about ten days into the anti-quota protests The Tribune. Doctors from backward classes broke away to form the Indian National Medical Association, saying the IMA's stand did not speak for all its members UNI via The Tribune. At IIT Bombay rival groups held hunger strikes on the same campus The Tribune.

Former Prime Minister V.P. Singh and Indian Justice Party president Udit Raj wanted the Essential Services Maintenance Act used against striking doctors and called a rally for 30 May The Tribune. The All India Minorities Front sought the doctors' arrest and dismissal The Tribune. The JNU Students' Union planned a pro-quota human chain at India Gate on 2 June The Tribune.

Merit against more seats

Youth for Equality

Youth for Equality said it was fighting for merit, not against patients. "We are not against patients, but we have been forced to take the fight forward," its members said on 12 May The Tribune. Students argued the new quota would take reserved seats to nearly 50 per cent IANS via Arab News, and doubted that seats could be raised quickly because that needed infrastructure and teachers Arab News. After the 23 May decision a Lady Hardinge student said the government had "backstabbed" them The Tribune.

Arjun Singh and the UPA government

Government's position Arjun Singh refused to reconsider the proposal and called the agitation "propaganda", saying "we are not a banana republic", while offering to talk to students The Tribune. The government's answer to the merit argument was more seats: an official note said seats would have to rise by 54 per cent to protect general category places, at a cost of Rs 10,000 crore The Tribune. The Prime Minister's media adviser said he had assured students the policy "would not affect their interests" The Tribune. Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss threatened to replace doctors who did not return The Tribune.

"At the mercy of God": the vacation bench steps in

Justices Arijit Pasayat and Lokeshwar Singh Panta, sitting as a vacation bench on 30 May, said patients were "being left at the mercy of God" and that once the court was seized of an issue, a strike over it "may attract contempt of courts" The Tribune. The court also told the government to drop punitive action against strikers and revoke any sacking orders if doctors returned, Reuters reported Reuters via Al Jazeera.

The doctors went back on 31 May. IIT, JNU and Delhi University students said they would keep protesting The Tribune. Pay became the next fight. On 17 July the court ordered salaries paid for the strike period, 14 to 30 May; the government issued the order only on 19 August, after a contempt petition, and the court criticised the delay The Tribune.

From the Moily committee to a voice vote

The day the court intervened, an Oversight Committee under former Karnataka Chief Minister M. Veerappa Moily met for the first time to draw up a time-bound plan for the quota "without compromising merit" The Tribune. The Cabinet cleared a bill on 21 August for a phased rollout over three years; the committee had put the cost of phasing at Rs 20,000 crore The Tribune.

Arjun Singh introduced the Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Admission) Bill on 25 August. Institutions would have up to three years to add seats; minority institutions and some centres of excellence were exempt The Tribune. A parliamentary standing committee advised excluding the creamy layer, and the Cabinet said no The Tribune. The Lok Sabha passed the bill by voice vote in December 2006 The Tribune.

Then, on 29 March 2007, the Supreme Court stayed the OBC quota for 2007-08 because the government had "failed to provide any authentic or reliable data". Youth for Equality said it stood "vindicated" UNI via Oneindia.

Ashoka Kumar Thakur: the quota stays, the creamy layer goes

A five-judge bench headed by Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan upheld the 2006 Act and the 93rd Amendment on 10 April 2008, in four separate judgments. All five agreed the creamy layer must be excluded, using a 1993 government memorandum that then set the income limit at Rs 2.5 lakh a year, and asked for a review after five years The Tribune. Whether quotas could extend to private unaided institutions was left open; only Justice Dalveer Bhandari held that they could not.

Unless creamy layer is removed, OBCs cannot exercise their group right.

Justice Arijit Pasayat, Supreme Court, 10 April 2008 (The Tribune)

The CPI(M) welcomed the ruling, creamy layer exclusion included CPI(M) Polit Bureau. Ram Vilas Paswan and D. Raja defended keeping the creamy layer in, Mainstream Weekly reported Mainstream Weekly.

The Rs 2.5 lakh limit is now Rs 8 lakh a year for families outside government service, Outlook reported in August 2026, and the rule is back in court. On 11 March 2026 the Supreme Court held that parental income alone cannot decide creamy layer status, and in August it agreed to set up a special bench on how that ruling applies Outlook.

Sources

  1. The Tribune: EC questions Arjun on quota; Health Ministry favours quota, 9 Apr 2006
  2. The Tribune: Editorial, Arjun's quotas, 10 Apr 2006
  3. The Tribune: Anti-quota medicos face teargas, water cannons, 13 May 2006
  4. The Tribune: Anti-quota strike hits health services, 14 May 2006
  5. UNI via Oneindia: Medicos from 5 colleges begin indefinite hunger strike, 15 May 2006
  6. The Tribune: No relook at quota proposals: Arjun Singh, 15 May 2006
  7. The Tribune: Anti-quota protest intensifies, 15 May 2006
  8. UNI via Oneindia: Mumbai docs protest against lathicharge, reservations, 16 May 2006
  9. UNI via Oneindia: Quota okay but lathicharge condemnable: Bhajan Lal, 16 May 2006
  10. NHRC: Commission seeks report on police action against protesters, 16 May 2006
  11. Arab News: Protesters use SMS, burn govt notices, 20 May 2006
  12. The Tribune: Violent pro-quota medicos lathi-charged, 20 May 2006
  13. The Tribune: Panel working out formula, but strikers adamant, 20 May 2006
  14. UNI via Oneindia: Students, doctors stage rally, 20 May 2006
  15. IANS via Arab News: Medicos reject PM's plea, stir will continue, 22 May 2006
  16. The Tribune: UPA-Left panel for 27 per cent quota for OBCs, 24 May 2006
  17. The Tribune: IMA splits, new group favours quota; Mumbai IIT students split on quota, 24 May 2006
  18. UNI via Oneindia: Medicos intensify stir, AIIMS faculty on mass casual leave, 25 May 2006
  19. The Tribune: Medicos meet PM, 27 May 2006
  20. The Tribune: Immolation bid at anti-quota rally, 28 May 2006
  21. The Tribune: Pro-quota leaders up the ante, 28 May 2006
  22. The Tribune: SC takes suo motu notice of strike; medicos, Oversight Committee, 31 May 2006
  23. Reuters via Al Jazeera: Indian doctors call off strike, 31 May 2006
  24. The Tribune: Medicos end stir, 1 Jun 2006
  25. The Tribune: Cabinet okays staggered quota, 22 Aug 2006
  26. The Tribune: SC raps Centre over AIIMS doctors' salary, 22 Aug 2006
  27. The Tribune: Quota Bill introduced in Lok Sabha, 26 Aug 2006
  28. The Tribune: Creamy layer stays in OBC quota Bill, 8 Dec 2006
  29. The Tribune: LS okays OBC quota Bill, 15 Dec 2006
  30. UNI via Oneindia: AIIMS residents, students welcome SC stay on OBC quota, 30 Mar 2007
  31. The Tribune: SC okays quota minus creamy layer, 11 Apr 2008
  32. CPI(M) Polit Bureau: On OBC quota judgement, 10 Apr 2008
  33. Mainstream Weekly: comment on the OBC quota verdict, Apr 2008
  34. Outlook: OBC creamy layer, why the Supreme Court ruling has put CSE 2025 in a fix, 25 Aug 2026