Rajasthan: Gurjar Community blocks railway track in Bharatpur demanding reservation

After Gurjar leader Vijay Bainsla declared that the agitation for reservation in jobs and education as a "most backward class" (MBC) community will continue till their demands are met, members of community blocked railway tracks in Bharatpur as part of their protest on Monday.

"This time our delegation will not go anywhere to hold talks with the government. If they want to talk, they can come and meet us here on the railway track," Hardev Singh Paowta, a core committee member of Rajasthan Gurjar Community, told ANI.

"We postponed our protest midway in February last year due to Pulwama attack. For two years, we have been waiting for the government's decision but our demands remained unfulfilled. We blame the bureaucracy here. This time we have decided not to indulge in any table talks or dialogue with the government behind closed doors," Hardev Singh added.

Meanwhile, there are reports that the Gurjar community has been divided into two factions, one faction f the Gurjar Reservation Committee led by Himmat Singh Gurjar has agreed with the Rajasthan government's cabinet sub-committee on 14 points following talks on Saturday.

While the other faction led by Gurjar leader Vijay Bainsla is continuing with the protests.

"The youth are not getting employment. There is anger amongst them. Our movement will continue. We spoke to Gehlot Ji, but nothing has happened so far," Vijay Bainsla, Gurjar leader, said earlier.

Rajasthan government on October 26, 2018, passed a bill that increased the Other Backward Classes (OBC) quota from 21 percent to 26 percent. In December 2018, the Rajasthan government also approved one percent reservation for Gujjars and four other backward castes (OBCs).

These communities are getting one percent separate reservation under the legal limit of 50 percent reservation meant for the most-backward category in addition to OBC reservation.

(ANI)

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