Jats likely to hold talks with Centre

Jats demanding quota for the community in government jobs are likely to hold another round of talks with the Centre on the issue even as the agitation continues to disrupt train services in many parts of Haryana.

"The Centre has indicated that it wants to hold another round of talks with us. Let's see what the outcome of these will be," Hawa Singh Sangwan, Haryana state president of All India Jat Arakshan Sangharsh Samiti, the body spearheading the agitation, told PTI. However, he refused to elaborate as and when the talks will be held.

Train services in parts of northern India continue to remain disrupted for yet another day on Tuesday. The ongoing fortnight-long stir by Jats has badly affected rail traffic in northern India, forcing the Northern Railways to cancel several trains, divert routes of some others. With the disruption in the supply of coal, the Rajiv Gandhi Thermal Power Plant, Khedar, Hisar has been closed.

At a meeting held at Kurukshetra on Monday, the agitating Jats had threatened to block the Delhi-Ambala rail route if their demand was not met by March 25. They also threatened to cut off the national capital from the rest of north India in the next phase of their stir if the demand was not fulfilled by March 28.

The Union government's crisis management group had on Monday reviewed the situation arising out of the continuous agitation by Jats for job quota and the steps being taken for smooth flow of trains and road traffic in north India. When asked whether the Centre is also mulling changing rules to allow the National Commission for Backward Castes to receive representations of the Jats to consider community's plea for inclusion in the central government list of backward castes, Sangwan said, "This has been indicated to us. But we understand that the whole process could take six months. Let's see how things work out when we meet them again".

The existing rules do not allow the NCBC to take the petitions of the Jats as it had long ago rejected their pleas for inclusion in the quota list. The home ministry has already dispatched 1,000 paramilitary personnel to Haryana to assist local authorities to deal with any law and order situation there.

A meeting of the Jat leaders was also held at Ramayan village in Hisar on Monday evening, in which it was decided to continue blocking rail tracks in the district.

Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda has again appealed to the agitating Jats to end their stir. The Jat agitation had also echoed in the budget session of the Haryana Assembly, which had witnessed uproarious scenes over the issue on March 15.