Members of the Mali community, who have been spearheading a protest that has blocked a stretch of the Jaipur-Agra highway in Rajasthan’s Bharatpur district for 11 days, have called off their agitation demanding 12 per cent reservation in government jobs and educational institutions. The protest, which was also joined by members of the Saini, Shakya, Maurya and Kushwaha communities, was called off following talks with the state government. Protesters said they have asked the Rajasthan OBC Commission to conduct a survey across all districts of the state on the socio-economic status of the communities. “We have decided to call off the protest for now. We met the OBC Commission yesterday. We had told the commission that they should conduct a survey at the earliest and send the results to the government so that a decision can be taken on giving us reservation. The commission has given time of 10 days to district collectors for sending the reports,” Murari Lal Saini, convener of the Phule Aarakshan Sangharsh Samiti, told reporters on Tuesday. The protesting OBC communities seek reservation proportional to their collective population in the state, which they say is 1.5 crore. Rajasthan’s total population stands at more than 6 crore. Saini said that if the demands are not met and action is not taken, the protesting communities would once again meet to decide their further course of action. The latest protest was the second such agitation within a year. Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, who himself belongs to the Mali community, had earlier appealed to the protesters to call off the agitation.
