Meeting to be held between Gujjar community members, Raj govt ministers over 5% quota in jobs

A meeting will be held between ministers of the Rajasthan government and members of the Gujjar Aarakshan Sangarsh Samiti on June 18 to discuss the community's demand of five per cent quota in jobs and educational institutes, an official said Tuesday.

In the meeting, Tourism Minister Vishvendra Singh, Health Minister Raghu Sharma, Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Bhanwar Lal Meghwal and Chief Secretary D B Gupta will be present besides other officials of the department concerned, Principal Secretary of the Social Justice and Empowerment Department Akhil Arora said.

Gujjar community members had blocked railways tracks and highways in the state in February and the agitation continued for eight days.

They called off their protest on February 16 after getting a written assurance from the state government that it will stand by the community if the bill provisioning 5 per cent reservation to them faces legal hurdles.

On February 13, the Rajasthan Assembly had passed a bill giving five per cent quota in government jobs and educational institutes to the Gujjars and four other communities agitating for it.