Rajasthan government’s abject surrender to Gujjars

Rajasthan government’s abject surrender to Gujjars

Kamlendra KanwarUpdated: Saturday, June 01, 2019, 01:23 AM IST
article-image

It is unfortunate how the Rajasthan government has capitulated to the strong-arm tactics of agitating Gujjars by agreeing to introduce a bill ensuring 5 per cent quota for them and four other castes outside the legal limit of 50 per cent overall reservation in government-run institutions.

From the beginning of this round of the Gujjar campaign eight days ago, the BJP government had been stressing that it is bound by law in not exceeding 50 per cent quotas. However, it gave in as the agitation escalated.  It has now promised to bring in a constitutional amendment that will negate the very spirit of the ceiling.

Indeed, vote bank politics has triumphed to appease a caste that accounts for seven per cent of the State’s population. In the bargain, four other castes have benefited too for the same considerations. It now remains to be seen whether the courts would accept the new provisions or declare them to be in violation of the spirit of the ceiling of 50 per cent fixed a few years earlier.

The new technique to get over the law is that the Gujjars and the four other castes would be given reservation as ‘Specially Backward Classes’ under a separate bill. The government has also agreed to bring a separate bill for 14 per cent reservation to economically backward classes beyond the 50 per cent limit.

The Bills, after being passed by the cabinet and the state assembly will be sent for inclusion in the 9th Schedule so that they becomes non-justiciable. If the bills are included in the 9th Schedule, the number of general category seats would come down to just 31 per cent, worsening the sense of deprivation among the non-reserved candidates.

For eight days this time and on several occasions earlier for the last six years, the Gujjars blocked rail tracks and roads by squatting on them to bring the State government on its knees. Demanding reservation in public sector jobs, the community had taken to the railway tracks and roads from May 21.

Hundreds of Gujjars blocked the commercially significant Delhi-Mumbai railway track in Bharatpur district, the Jaipur-Agra national highway and the state highway at Sawai Madhopur. The Gujjars, who form 7 per cent of total population in the state of Rajasthan, have been protesting since 2006 for a share in the quota pie along with four other castes — Banjara, Gadariya, Raika, and Gadia Luhar. The characteristically violent annual protests have claimed the lives of 72 people till now.

It is hypocrisy at its worst for retired Colonel Bainsla who leads the movement to now apologize to the people for the “inconvenience.” Yes, there was inconvenience caused and the livelihood of many people affected. As it happens with all agitations that fuel fears of violence, business activity was severely hit.

Initial estimates show that the Railways has suffered losses of about Rs 100 crore due to the current round of the Gujjar agitation which forced cancellation and diversion of as many as 326 Mail and Express trains on the Kota-Mathura route.

RECENT STORIES