Ahead of Lok Sabha polls starting next month, a number of Congress leaders today gathered under the banner of All India Jat Mahasabha to hail the government's decision to include the community in central list of OBCs in nine states that will benefit nine crore people.
Former Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh, who is also the president of the Mahasabha, thanked the UPA and its chairperson Sonia Gandhi for providing the reservation benefit to the Jat community.
He said it was a long-pending due for the members of the community who have limited land holdings.
Singh also attacked the BJP-Akali Dal government in Punjab on this issue alleging it had deliberately delayed the mandatory process to enable the people living in the state to get reservation benefits.
He alleged that Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal was to be held responsible for this lapse and accused him of playing politics over Jat reservation.
Jats of Punjab will not be able to avail the benefit of this decision. Singh had earlier alleged that it happened as the state government did not make recommendation for the same to the central government, which was a mandatory requirement.
Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Union Minister Ajit Singh, senior Congress leader Renuka Chaudhary and others attended the meeting along with Sabha Secretary General Yudhvir Singh and vice president Harpal Singh, said a press release by the All India Jat Mahasabha.
The government had earlier this month decided to include the Jat community in the central list of OBCs in nine states, a move that is expected to benefit about nine crore people from the community.
The decision paves the way for the community members to avail benefits of reservation in central government jobs and central education institutions as per the existing norms.
Around nine crore Jats are living in nine states -- Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Uttarakhand and Bihar.
The government has also issued notification in this regard, which mentions that Muslim Jats in Gujarat are also included in the central list, but in other states of Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Delhi, there is no mention of it.
