Government's decision to grant reservation on Jats justified: Major H.S. Ahlawat

Major H.S. Ahlawat, who is representing the Jat community, on Tuesday said that the recommendations of the National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC) were not binding on the Indian government.

Supreme Court on Tuesday issued a notice to the Union government seeking its response on the decision to include the Jat community in category of Other Backward Classes (OBC) in nine states that is likely to benefit around 90 million people.

The Apex Court stated that the Union government should produce relevant records and show it took proper consideration of NCBC report before including Jat community in the OBC list.

Major H.S. Ahlawat, representing the Jat community justified the government's decision.

"Actually we came for a petition, which was filed, against the reservation of Jats by communities who were opposing it. And it was wrongly quoted to the court that the recommendation of NCBC (National Commission for Backward Classes) is binding on the government, which is not. Because this was a relevant case under Section 11 where the recommendations of the NCBC have no meaning, they are only to be consulted by the government. And what we got was absolutely justified because we are economically, socially, educationally backward. And the committees, which are getting reservation, we are certainly behind them," Ahlawat said.

The decision aimed at providing Jat community, the benefits of reservation in government jobs and education institutions.

The list of OBCs for the states of Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttarrakhand, Uttar Pradesh and the National Capital of Delhi would include the Jat community.