Rajasthan government panel to review cases during Gujjar stirs in last 13 years

A three-member ministerial committee will hold a meeting on Friday to review cases filed against Gujjar activists during quota agitations in the last 13 years and discuss ways to ensure that reservation given to the community does not face legal hurdles, said officials familiar with the matter.

Disposal of cases registered during Gujjar agitations from 2006 to 2019 was among the five-point agreement inked between the community and the Rajasthan government on February 15.

The state government has issued a notification for providing 5% reservation in government jobs and educational institutions to Gujjars and four other castes by increasing the backward classes quota from 21% to 26%. The move came after Gujjars, led by their leader Kirodi Singh Bainsla, had squatted on rail tracks and blocked roads demanding reservation.

The ministerial committee will hold talks on the points of the agreement: no Gujjar activist will be arrested with ill intentions and cases will be disposed of with sympathy; the government will address and resolve legal hurdles, if any, in the implementation of reservation; strengthening Dev Narayan schemes on the lines of development schemes for SCs/STs; and filling job vacancies resulting from according special backward class (SBC) tag to Gujjars. The community was getting reservation under the OBC (other backward classes) category.

On February 13, the Rajasthan assembly passed the ‘The Rajasthan Backward Classes (Reservation of seats in educational institutions in the state and of appointments and posts in services under the state) (Amendment) Bill, 2019’.

In the last Gujjar agitation, 15 cases were lodged against protesters. In the last 12 years around 750 cases were registered, of which 105 are pending before court.

Ministers Vishwendra Singh, Raghu Sharma and Bhanwar Lal Meghwal, chief Secretary, DGP, additional chief secretaries, home and finance, principal secretaries, social justice and empowerment, and personnel, cooperative department registrar, and Gujjar leader Bainsla and his team will participate in the meeting to be held at the state secretariat.

First Published: Mar 01, 2019 11:39 IST