Rajasthan: Gujjar reservation stir causes massive disruption of road, rail services; state govt says dialogue underway

Sawai Madhopur (Rajasthan) [India], Feb 9 (ANI): Members of the Gujjar community, to further their demand for 5 per cent reservation in government jobs and education, caused massive disruption of rail services, even as the state government appealed for peace.
Due to the ongoing Gujjar agitation, as many as half a dozen trains are cancelled while routes of more than eight trains have been diverted in the Kota division of West Central Railway. Also, as many as 7 trains have been short terminated on their respective routes.
The trains that are cancelled are Kota- Hazrat Nizamuddin Jan Shatabdi Express, Kota-Yamuna Bridge Agra Passenger, Mathura to Sawai Madhopur passenger and others.
A section of the Gujjar community erected tents on railway tracks in protest, a day after Gujjars staged a 'rasta-roko' dharna at the railway tracks in Rajasthan's Sawai Madhopur district.
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot appealed people to not sit on rail tracks and asked protesters to submit a memo to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“I would like to appeal to the people that they shouldn’t sit on rail tracks. Their demands can only be met after amendments in the Constitution, so they should submit a memo to the Prime Minister," he said.
Meanwhile, Rajasthan Minister Vishvendra Singh said dialogue has been initiated.
"I have hope that all problems of the Gujjar community will be solved by the government. I’m not authorised to say anything without consulting the chief minister," he told media here.
In lieu of the hampered train schedule, the railways have opened refund counters. Divisional headquarters is ensuring enough water in coaches for longer routes. For attending to the heavy flow of calls on railway inquiry number, additional staff has been deputed.
Rajasthan government on October 26 last year passed a bill which increased Other Backward Classes (OBC) quota from 21 per cent to 26 per cent.In December 2018, the Rajasthan government also approved one per cent reservation for Gujjars and four other backward castes (OBCs).
At present, these communities are getting one per cent separate reservation under the legal limit of 50 per cent reservation meant for the most-backwards category in addition to OBC reservation (ANI)