Gujjars ready for talks over reservation row in Rajasthan

JAIPUR - In the latest development, Gujjars have reportedly agreed for talks following days of protest over a demand for five percent reservation in the government jobs as well as in educational institutions in Rajasthan.

A seven member Gujjar delegation has reportedly reached Bayana, where they are meeting state Cabinet Minster Dr Jitender Singh who has been sent as CM’s emissary. They are also expected to invite Dr Jitender to the rail tracks.

Earlier, hundreds of members of the Gujjar community had blocked a number of railway routes in Dausa district, demanding quotas in government jobs and educational institutions.

This morning, Gujjars had intensified their agitation by refusing to meet a three-member team of IAS officers sent by the Rajasthan government to end the stalemate over the reservation row.

Soon after the arrivals of the Rajathan government’s three member team in Bayana, some 12-km from Pilukarpura in Bharatpur district, the team appealed to Gujjars to hold talks but their leaders firmly refused to meet the officers.

Many protestors staged demonstrations and demanded that their rights should be fulfilled.

“We are demanding five per cent reservation and we will hold talks only after the agenda of any meeting is five per cent reservation only,” Gujjar leader Roop Singh had said.

Earlier, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot had lashed out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for fuelling the simmering unrest in the region over providing reservation to Gujjars in the state.

The Gujjars have been demanding a separate five percent quota in government jobs and educational institutions. Many people were killed in 2007 when they first launched the agitation in favour of reservations.

Presently, the Gujjar community comes under the other backward classes (OBC) category and it is demanding to be bracketed with the Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Castes (SC/ST). (ANI)