Captain for quota benefits to those economically weak

Tuesday, 23/02/2016

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Chandigarh : Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee president Capt Amarinder Singh on Monday said the benefits of reservations should be extended to economically weaker sections among others as well. Reacting to frequent agitations that usually turn violent like the current one in Haryana, Capt Amarinder said: “The time has come that economically weak and underprivileged from general categories irrespective of the caste or community they belong to are also provided the reservation benefits.”

“This, however, does not mean making the economy the only criterion for the reservations as the social and caste backwardness cannot be overlooked and those getting the benefits on caste basis as enshrined in our constitution must continue to get these. We can’t afford to shut our eyes on the problem which needs to be recognised and solved,” he observed while pointing out how the demands for reservations by other castes like Gujjars in Rajasthan and Patels in Gujarat and now Jats in Haryana are growing day by day. 

He said that during his recent interactions with the youth and students in colleges and universities across Punjab, there has been a consistent demand for extending the benefit of the reservations to the economically weaker sections and underprivileged from the general categories also. Referring to the ongoing agitation by Jats in Haryana, he said: “It is the outcome of the frustration of people who think that they are being denied their rightful due. And this frustration is not restricted to Jats in Haryana alone.” 

Spelling out the All India Jat Mahasabha stand on the issue, Capt Amarinder, who is also its president, said that the Mahasabha was demanding reservations only for the economically weaker sections among Jats owning less than four acres of land and not for the creamy layer. “There are farmers who own even less than one acre of land and they cannot make their both ends meet and the Mahasabha is asking for reservations within the OBC category for the people who own less than four acres of land.” 

Meanwhile, Punjab Congress Legislature Party (CLP) chief Charanjit Singh Channi on Monday proposed thread-bare special discussion on the issue of providing reservation to Jats in the forthcoming budget session of the Vidhan Sabha. In a statement, Channi said the agrarian crisis in the state had been deepening over the years and the same was getting reflected in increasing incidence of suicides by the distressed farmers, especially in the Malwa belt. Moreover, the pauperisation of the peasantry had been acting as a push factor. The land holdings had been getting smaller and smaller over the period. 

He said farming had become unsustainable for small and marginal farmers. He said besides discussing and debating steps to make farming profitable for the small farmers, the issue of reservation should be discussed as the two were closely interlinked. “The reservation issue has arisen mainly because of shrinkage of job market and farming turning unprofitable,” he said.