Haryana Jats block rail track seeking reservation

Having failed to secure reservation for their community from the state and central governments, protestors from the Jat community blocked rail tracks in Haryana’s Hisar district Monday morning.

Police said the protestors blocked the tracks near Mayyar village in Hisar district, 280 km from here, disrupting rail services in the area.

The agitating Jats had Sunday served a 24-hour ultimatum to the central and state governments to make an announcement regarding reservation for the Jat community in government jobs.

The ultimatum ends at 5 p.m. Monday but the protestors started the first phase of their agitation Monday morning itself.

The Jats had led a three-week-long agitation in the Jat-dominated districts of Hisar, Jind and Bhiwani in Haryana in March last year seeking reservation for the community in government jobs under the Other Backward Classes (OBC) quota.

They had later withdrawn the agitation after the Bhupinder Singh Hooda government assured it would take up their case with the central government.

The Hooda government later set up the Haryana Backward Classes Commission to look into the reservation aspect.

The commission is considering the demands of the Roar, Jat, Jat Sikh, Tyagi, Bishnoi and other communities who wish to be classified as backward classes in the state.

Last year, the protesters, including women, children and the elderly, had blocked rail tracks at 15 points across Haryana. The worst affected were Hisar, Bhiwani and Jind districts.