Gujjars occupying the railway tracks and highways in Rajasthan with the demand for 5% reservation in government jobs and educational institutions called off their agitation on Saturday after the State government assured them of taking all legal steps to safeguard the quota provided to them in a Bill passed by the Assembly on Wednesday.
Gujjar leader Kirori Singh Bainsla, who was sitting with hundreds of his supporters on the Delhi-Mumbai railway tracks near Malarna station in Sawai Madhopur district, said all blockades on the railway tracks and on roads, including several national highways, would be lifted shortly.
State Tourism Minister Vishvendra Singh carried a draft agreement on behalf of the State government to the agitating Gujjars, promising to protect the new reservation provisions with “adequate legal safeguards”. Mr. Singh said the State government would pursue the matter with the Centre and protect the interests of Gujjars.
Col. (retd.) Bainsla expressed regret over the inconvenience caused to the public since February 8, when the blockades were put up. He called upon the Union government to get the new Act, recognising Gujjars as an “extremely backward class”, included in the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution to protect it from being challenged in the courts.
The three legislations enacted earlier in the State since 2008, giving 5% reservation to Gujjars and four other nomadic communities as a Special Backward Class, were struck down by the Rajasthan High Court, which ruled that the quota had not only exceeded the 50% limit, but was also not supported by the quantifiable data.
While Col. (retd.) Bainsla and his supporters occupied the Delhi-Mumbai railway tracks, the Gujjar agitators later blocked the Sawai Madhopur-Jaipur rail track at Chauth Ka Barwara and several major roads across the State, including the Jaipur-Agra national highway. The blockade led to cancellation, diversion and short termination of about 200 trains and suspension of bus services during the last nine days.