By IANS,
New Delhi : The following is a fact file on the protests by Rajasthan’s Gujjar community seeking Scheduled Tribe status:
* Population: Around 10 percent of state’s 56.47 million
* De-notified as a non-criminal tribe in 1951
* Fail to get ST status in 1954, Meenas do
* In late 1950s, Gujjars start to struggle for ST status
* Gujjars figure among backward castes in 1981 census
* In 1984, Rajasthan chief minister Shivcharan Mathur rejects Gujjar demand for ST status
* Gujjars get listed as other backward caste (OBC) in 1993
* Jats get OBC status in 1999
* In 2003, Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje promises Gujjars ST during assembly election campaign
* Many die Gujjar protests in May-June 2007
* Supreme Court terms Gujjar violence a “national shame”
* Justice Jasraj Chopra Committee set up in June 2007 to study Gujjar demand
* Justice Chopra submits report in December 2007, rejects ST demand but recommends special package for Gujjars
* May 17, 2008: A high-powered committee headed by Ramdas Agarwal recommends Rs.2.82 billion package for Gujjar areas
* May 23: Police fire at Gujjars in Bharatpur, many killed
* May 26: Raje writes to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, recommending 4-6 percent quota for Gujjars