Jat quota: Captain raps CM for stalling implementation
Saturday, 30/08/2014
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PATIALA: Congress deputy leader in the Lok Sabha and president of the All India Jat Mahasabha Capt Amarinder Singh on Friday blamed Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal for denying the benefit of reservation to Jats living in the state.
Referring to the “undue delay” on the part of the AkaliBJP government in implementing the decision that is already in force at the Centre and in various states, Amarinder said the state missed the chance during the previous UPA government when it failed to make timely recommendation to the National Commission for Backward Classes for implementing it in Punjab, despite his repeated pleas.
He said even the BJP-led NDA government had upheld the UPA’s decision on Jat reservation. Amarinder added that there was no reason for Badal to withhold its implementation in Punjab except for his own vested interests so that the downtrodden and economically weaker sections among Jats did not get any benefit.
The former CM asked the government to set a deadline for the implementation of the reservation policy in Punjab. He pointed out once Jat reservation was implemented in the state, the youth from the community would be eligible for OBC (Other Backward Classes) reservation in the civil services, other central government jobs and related vacancies, which add up to about 1.5 lakh. Besides, they will also be eligible for admission in various institutions of professional and higher education.
“I am surprised why Badal is not taking the initiative,” he remarked, adding that “either he is not aware of what he is denying to the youth of Punjab or he is doing it deliberately to keep them underprivileged so that he can keep exploiting them politically.”
