Mayawati wants Jats to be put in central OBC list

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati has demanded the Centre to include the Jat community in the central Other Backward Classes (OBC) list and written a letter to the prime minister in this regard.

In the backdrop of the state Assembly poll scheduled early next year, Mayawati has recently been on ‘letter to PM’ spree to woo the different segments of electorate.

Recently, she had written separate letters demanding reservation to minorities, especially Muslims, proportionate to their population. The other letter demanded reservation to the poor among upper castes.

In her latest letter to PM Manmohan Singh, Mayawati observed that majority of the Jat community members earned their living from agriculture and allied activities.

Owing to decline in agricultural land holding, the financial condition of Jat families had weakened, while they were educationally backward. Their children lagged in the field of school education and the community had inadequate representation in central services as well, she said.

She mentioned the UP government had included Jats in the list of OBCs on March 10, 2000.

Mayawati further said the central OBC list had included the Jats living in Rajasthan (excluding Dholpur and Bharatpur districts) through notification dated October 27, 1999.

Since, Rajasthan was an adjoining state and the socio-economic condition of Jats in both the states was similar, there was a strong case for including UP's Jats also in the central OBC list.

Mayawati underlined that opportunities in the field of education, employment and other sectors would have to be provided to the community to bring about a positive change in their socio-economic condition.