Jat community stage protests in Rajasthan over reservation 

Jaipur, Jan 17 (IANS) Bharatpur-Dholpur Jat Aarakshan Sangharsh Samiti on Wednesday staged a massive protest near Jaicholi railway station of Bharatpur over reservation quota. 

 

Nem Singh Faujdar -- convener of Bharatpur-Dholpur Jat Aarakshan Sangharsh Samiti -- said that our demand should be met before January 22 after which they will intensify the agitation by uprooting tracks, stopping trains and blocking the highways.

“We have given 10-days to the government on January 7. But the government did not pay any attention. We have now erected a grand camp in Jaicholi near the Delhi-Mumbai railway track. The second Mahapadav will be held in Bedam village (Bharatpur) and the third in Rarh (Bharatpur),” Faujdar said.

He said that they will protest in a Gandhian manner till January 22. 

“If the government does not fulfill the demand then a fierce agitation will be launched. Its entire responsibility will be of the government,” Faujdar said.

To ensure security to the railway track, 6 RAC companies, 180 policemen, 100 RPF and GRPF personnel have been deployed in the area.

The Jat community in Bharatpur and Dholpur districts of Rajasthan has been demanding reservation since 1998. 

Former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had announced the inclusion of the Jats of Rajasthan in the OBC category. However, Bharatpur and Dholpur were not included as Jats were mostly associated with the former royal family. 

In 2013, the Manmohan Singh-led government had given OBC reservation to the Jat community along with nine other states. 

On August 10, 2015, OBC reservation for the Jats community in these districts was abolished.

After fighting a long legal-battle, on 23 August 2017, Jats of both the districts were given reservation under OBC category, but the Center did not agree. 

In September 2021, the Jat community again announced the protests.

On December 28, 2021, the then Congress chief minister Ashok Gehlot had also written a recommendation letter to the Central government over the reservation under the OBC category for the Jats of both the districts.

--IANS

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