The indefinite fast by five pupils of Calcutta Medical College (CMC) demanding immediate student council election entered its third day on Saturday morning to press for holding students council election this month.
Two fasting students fell sick in the intervening night of Friday and Saturday but were in stable condition now, a CMC official said.
A senior doctor of CMC, who is negotiating with the agitating students, told reporters he has requested the agitators "who are our children" to withdraw the fast and sit for talks with the authorities.
But the agitators have demanded that the principal give an assurance that the students union poll will be held on December 22 and start the process immediately, or the fast will continue. The students had launched the fast on Thursday morning.
Rajib Roy, an agitating student, said no student union election has taken place in CMC in the past three years.
"We are losing our patience as the authorities are not showing any inclination to start the process," he added.
CMC students council elections were scheduled to be held on December 26 but were recently postponed by the health department, a college official said.
A protestor, who is not among those holding the fast, said a sit-in was launched by the students before the office of the college principal Indranil Biswas on December 5. "We withdrew the sit-in on December 6 night considering the health condition of our teachers. We did not want to inconvenience them. But if there is a problem with the health of our friends, should that not be a matter of concern to the authorities?".
He said contrary to some reports no disruption has been caused in the services to patients as the agitators have not passed MBBS and are not directly linked to hospital services.
