Rajasthan sets up panel to look into Gujjars issue

The Rajasthan government on Sunday appointed a seven-member committee headed by the former High Court judge, Justice I.S. Israni, to look into “all aspects” of the issue of providing reservation to Gujjars under a special category, even as fresh talks between Gujjar supremo Kirori Singh Bainsla and government emissaries remained inconclusive.

The committee was constituted on the interim orders of a Division Bench of the Rajasthan High Court which heard a public interest litigation petition over the week-end. The panel will submit its report before May 3 when the case is scheduled to come up for further hearing.

According to official sources here, the committee will look into all aspects of the issue of reservation to Gujjars in government jobs, hold wide-ranging talks with Gujjars representing a cross-section of opinions within the community and try to reduce the tension prevailing in the State on the vexed issue.

The members of the committee are Bharatpur MP Ratan Singh, Kotputli MLA Ramswarup Kasana, the former civil servant Satyanarain Singh, the former MP Karan Singh Yadav and lawyer Virendra Singh Gujjar. The State government has appointed Niranjan Arya as the committee's member-secretary.

The talks between Col. Bainsla and State Energy Minister Jitendra Singh revolved around the modalities of giving 5 per cent quota — possibly from the share of Other Backward Classes — to Gujjars, but the State government expressed its inability to agree to the demand for suspending the ongoing process of recruitment of 80,000 personnel.

Mr. Singh reiterated the government's commitment to provide 5 per cent reservation to Gujjars and promised that job aspirants from the community crossing the upper age limit because of the quota issue being

sub judice would get age relaxation. However, the two sides could not reach a consensus on the sensitive issue of stalling the recruitment process.

Col. Bainsla told journalists at the Vidyut Bhavan here after the day-long negotiations that “80 per cent of the matter” had been sorted out, while 20 per cent was yet to be resolved. Gujjar leaders accompanying him were hopeful that a way out on the current recruitment process could still be found.

Sit-in continues

The massive “padaav” [sit-in] by the members of the community on five different highways leading to the State capital continued for the third day on Sunday. Hundreds of Gujjars, who were earlier marching towards Jaipur, were waiting at Sikandara, Kotputli, Tonk and Ajmer for a written agreement between the government and their leaders.