Besides reservation on an economic basis, the Congress government of Haryana has announced plans to give 10 per cent reservation to five castes, including Jats (Jat, Jat Sikh, Rod, Tyagi and Vishnoi) under the ‘Special Backward Classes’ category. This will be in addition to the 27 per cent reservation for OBCs in Haryana. Thus, Haryana will now have 67 per cent reservation (10 per cent – economic basis, 10 per cent – Special Backward Classes, 27 per cent – OBCs and 20 per cent – SCs/ STs).
Leaders of non-Jats are describing this decision, which has come to be known as ‘Jat Reservation’ as wrong. We are publishing the views of two non-Jat leaders on the issue. The write-ups are based on the conversation of FORWARD Press Principal Correspondent Amrendra Kumar Arya with these leaders.
Will abolish it on coming to power
Ramvilas Sharma, State President, BJP
The head of the Congress government of Haryana has no sympathy for any class or caste. He is simply playing vote bank politics.
The BJP’s stand on the issue of reservations is very clear. We do not favour caste-based reservations. Baba Saheb Ambedkar had made provision for reservation for Dalits and other backward classes but unfortunately, in the entire country, including Haryana, it has become a political issue. Today, in the name of Jat reservation, everyone is trying to earn political brownie points.
Jats form the biggest community in Haryana. They are simple folks. The Hooda government is luring them just to serve its political ends. If the BJP comes to power, we will abolish the “special reservation” for Jats and other castes being given by the Hooda government. We will constitute a new panel to decide the eligibility for reservation. We will give reservation to Jats and other eligible castes only on economic basis.
Right from the time of Devilal, Jats have been used to block roads and close railway lines in the name of getting them reservation. Today, the farmers of the state are facing many problems. The government is illegally acquiring their land. Lest the farmers demand a just compensation for their land, the lollipop of reservation under ‘special quota’ is being dangled before them. The idea is to divert their attention. In Faridabad, the government has doled out land worth crores to Sonia Gandhi and her relatives. To ensure that the people do not raise their voices against these gross irregularities, the issue of reservation is being used to drive a wedge between farmers and non-farmers of the state.
Conspiracy to fillup backlog posts with Jats
Vedpal Tanwar, President, Sarva Samaj Sangharsh Samiti
Givng reservation to Jats under a special quota is patently wrong. The Jats of Haryana are neither socially nor educationally backward. Economically, they are very ‘forward’.
In fact, Jats were never backward in Haryana. They control 99 per cent of the land and water resources of the state. This is a conspiracy against the Backwards. For the last several years, the government has not made recruitments to posts reserved for the OBCs. Now that the backlog (the number of posts meant for OBC candidates lying vacant) has touched 1.25 lakh, the Haryana Chief Minister Bhupender Singh Hooda is hatching a conspiracy to appoint Jats to all these posts. One more conspiracy may be in the offing. Today, the government is creating a special quota for them. Tomorrow, it may decide to include the Jats in the OBC quota.
The OBCs living in other parts of India should also remember that the Jat politicians of Haryana, who are now willing to do anything to get reservation, were, at one time, vehement opponents of reservation. The committee that was constituted by the Haryana Backward Classes Commission by the state government to assess the politico-educational status of the Jats was a sham. The report of the committee was drafted by Jat officers and Jat ‘experts’ sitting in the comfort of their homes or offices. They never went to the field.
Reservation is essential for the economic and social progress of the Dalits and other backward classes. The ‘Jat’ government of Haryana has always been suppressing the dalits and other backwards. The reservation for Jats is aimed at perpetuating this suppression. But we will not allow this conspiracy to succeed.
10% reservation for all General castes “on economic basis”
The Congress government of Haryana announced 10 per cent reservation “on economic basis” for all castes, included Savarnas. According to the government press release “As per the recommendations of the Haryana Backward Classes Commission, the reservation will be vertical and not horizontal”. An officer of the Haryana government’s Publicity department told FORWARD Press that this reservation will be available to all sections of Haryana society including Brahmins and Rajputs. He said that the government was yet to define horizontal / vertical reservations. Information about it will be given later. Ashok Kumar, Joint Director,Department of Information and Public Relations, Government of Haryana, too expressed his ignorance on the issue.
The Dalit-OBC section has already started opposing this move. Suresh Dravid, Haryana-in- charge and member of the Central Executive Committee of BAMCEF (Parmar) described the decision as unconstitutional. He said that the Constitution has provision for reservations only on social and educational grounds. The Haryana government’s decision to give reservation on economic basis will be strongly opposed.
Published in the February 2013 issue of the Forward Press magazine
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