‘Zero demands met': In Rajasthan, Gujjars turn heat on BJP govt, clear decks for new stir

Indian Express

2 days ago

Accusing the Bhajan Lal Sharma-led BJP government in Rajasthan of not addressing any of their long-pending demands even after completing 17 months at the helm, a section of Gujjar leaders have called a Mahapanchayat on June 8 in Bharatpur's Pilupura village close to the railway tracks.
The Gurjar Arakshan Sangharsh Samiti's president Vijay Bainsla said they were forced to call a Mahapanchayat as the Sharma government has done 'zero' works for the Gujjar community.
A BJP leader, Vijay — son of the architect of the Gujjar reservation agitation, late Colonel Kirori Singh Bainsla — contested the 2023 Assembly elections from Tonk's Deoli Uniara seat on the party's ticket, but lost to the Congress's candidate.
On May 23, Vijay proposed the Mahapanchayat from Shaheed Sthal in Pilupura — the nerve centre of the agitation in 2008 where the police had fired on Gujjar protesters, killing several people. 'We have been talking continuously with the government for the last 17 months but things haven't been moving. So the community leaders said we need to hold a Mahapanchayat,' Vijay said.
The Gujjar leaders have now been holding several small and big gatherings to mobilise the community for the Mahapanchayat, with peele chawal (yellow rice) being sent to many households for invitation.
One of the main grievances of the protesters is related to the roster system of reservation.
Currently, Rajasthan has 64% reservation: 21% for OBCs (Other Backward Classes), 16% for SCs (Scheduled Castes), 12% for STs (Scheduled Tribes), 10% for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS), and 5% for MBCs (Most Backward Classes).
Gujjars were included in the MBC category during the tenure of the previous Ashok Gehlot-led Congress government. However, the Gurjar Arakshan Sangharsh Samiti alleges that Gujjars and other MBC communities have not been getting full benefits of reservation as the current roster system 'reduces' the reserved posts at the local level.
Vijay says that the roster system to allot reservation at various levels has led to its 'fragmentation'. 'For example, we are supposed to get 5 posts for every 100 vacancies, or 1 in 20. But the government divides these 100 posts in multiple verticals, including tehsils, districts, departments. So, when the posts are reduced to say, 18, in a vertical, MBCs are left out. Roster system is a way of not giving reservation,' he said, alleging that SCs, STs, OBCs, and EWS were also affected by it.
Vijay said the state government in 2019 had submitted before the high court that the MBC candidates are considered first in the general category, then among the OBCs, and then the MBC category, but it has not been implemented yet. He demanded that the proportionate jobs of the last 6 years should be thus given to MBCs. 'They (government) should implement it or issue a corrigendum if they think this was incorrect,' he said. The Samiti has demanded that the backlog for MBCs in Rajasthan Judicial Services should be filled too.
The Gujjar protesters have also renewed the demand for inclusion of the 5% MBC reservation in the Ninth Schedule to grant it immunity from a judicial review. The state government had passed the MBC quota law in 2019, but it has not been included in the Ninth Schedule.
Gujjars have also been pressing for long for withdrawal of cases against many of their community protesters, which had been lodged against them during several quota agitations over the years. Vijay alleged that not a single case has been withdrawn yet under the current government. In a letter to CM Sharma, he said the government's decision to not withdraw 74 cases (see box) is against the spirit of written agreements signed between the community and the governments over the years. On the other hand, he alleged, the orders for confiscation of land of some of the accused have been issued. He demanded that 'the families of the martyrs of the reservation agitation should get jobs on compassionate grounds, apart from compensation.'
Another point of contention is pertaining to the implementation of Devnarayan schemes for the welfare of Gujjar students. Vijay alleged that there has been poor implementation of these schemes for 17 months, adding that neither enough scholarships nor scooties have been provided to eligible students. In the financial year 2024, not a single scooty was provided despite a budget provision of over 20 crores under Devnarayan Chhatra Scooty Yojana, he said. Similarly in 2024-25, only Rs 19 lakh was spent under this head against a budget provision of Rs 50 crore; for this financial year, over a quarter of the budget for Devnarayan schemes lapsed.
Vijay said the monthly review meeting of the Devnarayan Board and the government has not taken place for 17 months, demanding its resumption.
'What happens now is what the CM (Bhajan Lal Sharma) wants. If he wants to resolve the issues, they will be resolved. If he wants us to sit on the tracks, so be it. The ball is in his court,' Vijay said.
Significantly, Jats of the region have also extended their support to the Gujjars' proposed stir. On Thursday, Jat leader Nem Singh Faujdar, who has been leading a campaign for inclusion of Jats of Bharatpur and Dholpur in the Central OBC list, announced his support to the June 8 Mahapanchayat.
Rajasthan Minister of State for Home, Jawahar Singh Bedam, who belongs to the Gujjar community, told The Indian Express: 'Since Vijay Bainsla ji is a BJP leader and there is BJP government, he should meet the CM once and keep his points across; the CM is sensitive. If the talks progress in a positive manner, then certainly the issues can be resolved in a time-bound and lawful manner.'
Bedam also said, 'I am myself involved in this and we want all the issues to be resolved in a time- bound manner. I am continuously in touch with officials. Our government is accountable to the people. Whatever the issues are, we will try to resolve them positively by sitting together.'
Total cases: 794
Chargesheeted: 373
· Of which withdrawn: 241
· Not withdrawn: 74
· Decided: 46
· Pending in courts: 12
Final reports before courts: 390
· Of which accepted: 361
· Pending in courts: 26
· Returned by courts: 03
Under investigation: 31