Protesters have been tenting in tents after blocking a 1-km stretch of
NH-21 close to Arauda village since April 21.
| Photo Credit: Special association
The Jaipur-Agra nationwide highway remained blocked in Rajasthan’s Bharatpur district for the sixth consecutive day on Wednesday, as protesters demanding 12% separate reservation for a bunch of Other Backward Class (OBC) communities refused to vacate the highway. The Congress authorities within the State has agreed to look into their calls for.
As many as 5 OBC communities have mobilised with the demand for a separate quota in authorities jobs and schooling. Hundreds of individuals agitating for reservation have been tenting in tents after blocking a one kilometre stretch of the National Highway 21 close to Arauda village with stones since April 21.
The protesters, belonging to the Saini, Kushwaha, Mali, Maurya and Shakya communities, have demanded 12% quota throughout the OBC class, proportionate to their inhabitants, which is estimated to be 1.50 crore. They declare the current reservation obtainable to them is insufficient as a lot of the households are from the Below Poverty Line (BPL) class and their youngsters are unable to safe gainful employment.
The agitation took a critical flip following the demise of a 48-year-old man belonging to Saini group, whose physique was discovered hanging from a tree close to the protest website on Tuesday. The members of the family have refused to simply accept the physique and demanded compensation and a authorities job. The physique has been mendacity in a mortuary with out an post-mortem.
While visitors on the highway has been diverted by way of completely different routes a number of kilometres previous to the protest website, the district administration has suspended cell Internet companies within the area to verify the unfold of rumours and stop the scenario from deteriorating. The protesters had blocked the highway on the identical place with the same demand in June 2022 as nicely.
A delegation of protesters, led by Phule Arakshan Sangharsh Samiti’s convener Murari Lal Saini, met Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot at his official residence right here late on Tuesday. The delegation was requested to carry discussions with the State OBC Commission’s Member-Secretary, with whom a gathering has been scheduled for May 1.
Mr. Saini mentioned no choice on calling off the agitation or vacating the highway had been taken by the individuals of the OBC communities, who have been staying put on the protest website. Other calls for of the protesters embrace the formation of a ‘Luv Kush Welfare Board’, and hostel amenities for youngsters from OBC communities.
Mr. Gehlot, who belongs to the Mali group, has referred to as upon the protesters to finish their agitation, whereas declaring that Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge had written a letter to the Prime Minister looking for the inclusion of caste within the subsequent Census. “The OBC communities should keep patience. All their just demands will be accepted,” the Chief Minister informed reporters in an off-the-cuff interplay.
