OBC communities block Jaipur-Agra highway demanding 12% reservation, internet services suspended in parts of Bharatpur

Bharatpur district collector Alok Ranjan told The Indian Express that internet services have been suspended in four tehsils of the district—Weir, Bhusawar, Nadbai, and Uchain. “The administration is constantly carrying out negotiations with the protesters. We have created a diversion of the traffic on the highway around 10-20 kilometres before the protest area. The protesters want a 12 per cent reservation proportionate to their population. So far, no untoward incidents have taken place,” said Ranjan.

The protesters said that people from the Saini, Kushwaha, Mali, Maurya, and Shakya communities have come out in large numbers from different districts to join the protests and railway tracks will be blocked if the demands are not met by the government.

“We started our protest over the highway on June 12. We haven’t received any written assurance from the government. We have demanded that an authentic committee of the government discusses the issue of the 12 per cent reservation with us. If the government doesn’t heed to our demands, we will go on to block railway tracks,” said Murari Lal Saini, convener, Pradesh Arakshan Sangharsh Samiti, Mali Saini, Kushwaha, Shakya, Maurya Samaj, Rajasthan, while speaking to reporters.

Saini added that the present reservation available to the communities is not adequate.

“We have reservations under OBC but around 80 per cent of the Mali, Saini, Kushwaha, Shakya, and Maurya communities in Rajasthan are from the BPL category. Our kids can’t find jobs,” said Saini, from the protest site near Aroda village in Bharatpur.

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot belongs to the Mali community. The population of the protesting OBC communities are spread across Rajasthan.

Officials said that Minister Vishvendra Singh has been sent by the government to carry out negotiations with the protesters, which are likely to be held on Tuesday.