Bills granting quota for Jats, five other castes passed in Haryana
The bills propose quotas for Jats, five other castesJat Sikh, Ror, Bishnoi, Tyagi and Mulla Jat/Muslim Jatby constituting a new classification Block 'C' in the Backward Classes category
New Delhi: Fulfilling the demand of the Jat community, the Haryana assembly, led by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday unanimously passed bills to provide reservation in services and educational institutions to Jats, as well as five other communities.
The demand spawned violent Jat protests across Haryana last month, which left the state paralysed for over a week and was quelled only after the Army staged a flag march.
The Jat community had threatened to re-launch the protest if the assembly failed to pass the bill before the last day of the budget session on 31 March.
The two bills—Haryana Backward Classes (Reservation in Services and Admission in Educational Institutions) Bill, 2016 and Haryana Backward Classes Commission Bill, 2016—were introduced by chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar in the assembly.
The bills propose quotas for Jats and five other castes—Jat Sikh, Ror, Bishnoi, Tyagi and Mulla Jat/Muslim Jat—by constituting a new classification Block ‘C’ in the Backward Classes category.
The Haryana Backward Classes (Reservation in Services and Admission in Educational Institutions) Bill, 2016, proposed to give statutory status to Backward Classes Block ‘A’, Backward Classes Block ‘B’ and Backward Classes Block ‘C’.
The Haryana Backward Classes Commission Bill, 2016 proposes to set up a permanent mechanism and give statutory status to the Haryana Backward Classes Commission.
The Haryana government will approach the central government to include this Act in the ninth schedule of the Constitution.
Jat leaders had suggested that the government include the Act in the ninth schedule of the Constitution if the reservation breaches the 50% ceiling set by the Supreme Court.
The government has received support from the Congress party. However, the opposition party boycotted the proceedings on Tuesday, demanding the revocation suspension orders served on three Congress members for tearing up the copies of the governor’s speech on 15 March.
Last month’s Jat agitation in Haryana caused the death of 30 people, injuries to 320 others and widespread damage to property.
Analysts said the decision to grant reservation is politically motivated.
“The situation (Jat agitation) created anarchy in the state. This is a politically motivated decision. The bill being passed is not a good development,” said Ghanshyam Dev, head of the department of political science at DAV College, Chandigarh.
“When reservation was started it was not an economic issue, it was a social issue. It was meant for social development and inclusion. Jats are a dominant caste in Haryana. Jats are turning this into an economic issue,” he added.
PTI contributed to this story
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First Published:29 Mar 2016, 04:50 PM IST
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