By IANS
Jaipur : In an attempt to pacify the agitating Gujjars, the Rajasthan government plans to give the community reservation under de-notified tribals category, which will entitle them to state-level job and education facilities.
“The draft letter to give reservation to Gujjars under de-notified Schedule Tribes category has already been made and this letter on special reservation is slated to be sent to the union government on Tuesday”, sources in the state government told IANS here Monday.
According to the draft letter, the state government has decided to provide 4-6 percent reservation to Gujjars and 23 other nomadic tribes and castes in the state.
Sources said the classification of nomadic and de-notified tribes has been made because these communities have been deprived of the constitutional status of the Scheduled Tribes due to certain historical circumstances as also acts of omission and commission on part of the government and the society.
Besides reservation, a special package for the Gujjar-dominated areas is also on the anvil, sources said.
This includes opening of schools, colleges and technical institutes and hospitals, and also infrastructure development.
Gujjar leaders have dismissed the proposal, and said they will stop at nothing short of full tribal status. They do not seem to be happy with the state’s proposal.
“(Vasundhara) Raje government is trying to deviate our minds from the original issue of reservation through this proposal. We would not accept anything other than the Schedule Tribes reservation,” says Prahlad Gunjal, a Gujjar leader.
“We are going ahead with our plan to hold a maha padav (huge sit-in) in Jaipur from Jan 21.”
The Gujjars, at present categorised as Other Backward Classes (OBC), have been agitating for a tribal status to access better educational and employment opportunities.