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Jat Reservation Bill Gets Clearance From Haryana Cabinet

Jat Reservation Bill Gets Clearance From Haryana Cabinet
GURGAON, INDIA - FEBRUARY 19: Members of the Jat community protest at Bakhtawar Chowk for reservations in government services, on February 19, 2016 in Gurgaon, India. They blocked several squares of the city. Jat leaders earlier on Friday refused to withdraw their agitation till legislation is passed giving quota to the community under the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category even as the authorities in the worst-affected district suspended Internet and SMS services due to the stir which has disrupted rail and road traffic. The strike, into the sixth day, has crippled road and rail traffic across the state and shut down educational institutions in many places. (Photo by Abhinav Saha/Hindustan Times via Getty Images)
Hindustan Times via Getty Images
GURGAON, INDIA - FEBRUARY 19: Members of the Jat community protest at Bakhtawar Chowk for reservations in government services, on February 19, 2016 in Gurgaon, India. They blocked several squares of the city. Jat leaders earlier on Friday refused to withdraw their agitation till legislation is passed giving quota to the community under the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category even as the authorities in the worst-affected district suspended Internet and SMS services due to the stir which has disrupted rail and road traffic. The strike, into the sixth day, has crippled road and rail traffic across the state and shut down educational institutions in many places. (Photo by Abhinav Saha/Hindustan Times via Getty Images)

CHANDIGARH -- The Haryana Cabinet today passed a Bill to provide reservation in government jobs and education to Jats who had set an 3 April deadline for their demand to be met following their violent agitation last month.

The draft Bill on reservation to Jats and four other castes was cleared at a Cabinet meeting under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, official sources said.

The Bill is likely to be tabled in the ongoing budget session of the state Assembly, which is scheduled to continue till 31 March, they said.

The BJP government had assured that it would bring the Bill in the ongoing Budget session. Jat leaders had announced that no protest would be held till 3 April if the state government got the Bill passed before that.

The Bill proposes reservation for Jats and four other castes -- Jat Sikhs, Rors, Bishnois and Tyagis -- by creating a new classification in the Backward Classes category, sources said.

The government plans to provide 10 per cent reservation in educational institutions and Class-III and IV government jobs for these communities, they said.

It has proposed 6 per cent reservation for Jats and the four other castes in Class-I and Class-II jobs, sources said.

Apart from giving reservation to Jats, Haryana government has also proposed to bring a separate Bill for the setting up a permanent Haryana Backward Classes Commission, they said.

Jat leaders have been demanding reservation in the existing Backward Classes (BC) category.

The BC quota is bifurcated into two -- BC-A and BC-B -- having 16 and 11 per cent reservation, respectively.

Jats had last month launched a stir demanding reservation in BC category. The agitation, which had taken a violent turn, left 30 people dead and 320 injured and resulted in huge damage to property.

Jat leaders have told the government that in case the reservation breaches the overall 50 per cent ceiling, then the government should include the proposed legislation in the ninth Schedule of the Constitution to save it from judicial review.

"We want that whatever Bill is tabled should be legally tenable," All India Jat Aarakshan Sangharsh Samiti President Yashpal Malik had said.

The decision that no protest would be held till 3 April if the reservation Bill is passed in the ongoing session was announced by Malik after talks with Haryana Chief Secretary DS Dhesi and DGP Yashpal Singhal on 18 March.

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