By IANS
Jaipur : Refusing to accept the Rajasthan government’s proposal to give them job and education quota benefits under the de-notified category, Gujjars are going ahead with their plan to organise a large-scale sit-in demonstration here Jan 21.
The Gujjar Samyukt Sangarsh Samiti has been holding meetings on a daily basis to make the mahapadav, or massive sit-in, a success.
The Samiti leaders have been visiting villages, requesting community members to participate in the protest in a big way.
Samiti leader Prahlad Gunjal has asked the government to specify place where the sit-in can be organised, otherwise Gujjars would hold their padav on the Janpath, where the state assembly and government offices are located.
“We want a full tribal (Scheduled Tribe) status. Nothing short of it is acceptable to us. We would go ahead with our mahapadav and continue with it till our demand is met,” Gunjal told IANS here Wednesday.
The government, meanwhile, has started to beef up security.
However, officials said the government was still undecided if it should allow Gujjars to protest in Jaipur or to stop them from marching towards the state capital.
The Vasundhara Raje government is planning to offer the Gujjar community reservation under the de-notified tribal category.
“The draft letter stating that Gujjars are entitled under the de-notified scheduled tribe category has already been prepared and this letter of special reservation is likely to be forwarded to the central government in next couple of days,” an official said.
As per the draft, the state government has decided to provide four to six percent reservation to Gujjars and 23 other nomadic tribes and castes in the state.
The officials said the draft says that the Gujjars can be given reservation under the de-notified schedule tribe category till the time they are included in the tribal category.
Gujjars, presently belonging to the Other Backward Classes (OBC), held protests all over Rajasthan from May 29 to June 4 demanding their inclusion into the Scheduled Tribe category that would give them better employment and educational opportunities.
Normal life was paralysed and at least 26 people were killed in the violence that was heading towards a caste war between Gujjars and Meenas, an influential community classified as a Scheduled Tribe.