In a rare case of such instance happening, even medical shops and drug stores in Tamil Nadu joined the anti-Centre protest yesterday on the issue of (not) setting up a Cauvery Management Board (CMB).

The BJP-led Centre had delayed and neglected the setting up of a CMB despite the deadline expiring last Thursday as it held that the Supreme Court referred only to a ‘scheme’ (action plan) and not a CMB to be put in place to ensure fair share of Cauvery river water by Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Political parties across the State are protesting hard for the past few days to attempt to change the Centre’s mindset.

Ruling AIADMK and opposition DMK have been organizing separate protests; the AIADMK held fast protests on Tuesday across the State while the DMK has called for a ‘total shutdown’ tomorrow (on Thursday). Many Transporters’ Unions have also joined the strike with even auto-rickshaw drivers declaring that they too won’t work.

Joining the protest, medical shops across the State remained closed yesterday to express their condemnation to the Centre. The shops, however, opened at 06:00 p.m.  It may be recalled that medical services, which are always considered ‘essential services’, joined the protest apparently for the first time since many, many years!