By IANS
Jaipur : The committee constituted by the Rajasthan government to look into the demands of the Gujjar community to grant them scheduled tribe status has decided to hear in the first week of August the plea of the Meena community about providing them with the affidavits submitted by the Gujjars.
The Meenas and the Janjati Aarakshan Bacaho Sangharsh Samiti (JABSS) have requested the Justice Jasraj Chopra committee to provide them with the over 125,000 affidavits which the Gujjars submitted in support of their cause.
They have also asked the committee to permit them to examine these affidavits. The JABSS had also termed the demand of Gujjars on granting them tribal status as unjustified.
On July 16, a delegation of the Gujjar Aarakshan Sangarsh Samiti (GASS), the body spearheading the agitation demanding tribal status for the community, had presented its report before the Justice Jasraj Chopra committee.
The report included over 125,000 affidavits and 20,000 pictures from all over Rajasthan supporting the Gujjars' demand for scheduled tribe status. The delegation had also presented 200 CDs in support of their case.
The three-member committee was formed after the Gujjars and the state government reached an agreement June 4. It has already started hearings and is slated to submit its report in three months.
Gujjars, presently categorised as other backward classes (OBC), held protests all over Rajasthan from May 29 to June 4 demanding their inclusion in the scheduled tribe category. Normal life was paralysed and at least 26 people were killed in the violence.
Meanwhile, the Chopra committee has also decided to start individual hearings from the second week of August. The committee has received 13,000 memorandums from various groups along with thousands of affidavits.