M A I N   N E W S

Haryana Jats withdraw stir after talks with CM

Chandigarh, March 25
In a late night development, the agitating Jats in Haryana, demanding reservation in government jobs under OBC quota, withdrew their three-week-long stir after talks with Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda at Jind.

In a statement that was reported by news agency PTI just minutes before this edition was to go to the press, Hooda said those agitating had agreed to lift all blockades and dharnas with immediate effect. It has also been decided to set up 'Haryana Backward Classes Commission' within a month, he said. The commission would consider the demand of communities of Roar, Jat, Jat 
Sikh, Tyagi, Bishnoi and others, which wish to come under the ambit of the Backward Classes.

President of Haryana Jat Arakshan Samiti Hawa Singh Sangwan, president of Benayan Khap Dada Nafe Singh, and representatives of other khaps thanked the CM for the decision to set up the commission, an official spokesman said here.

The Jat agitation had paralysed rail traffic in many parts of northern India for the past several days as the community members had been sitting on dharna on the tracks at 14 different lines in the state. The decision to withdraw the agitation comes a day after the Punjab and Haryana High Court directed the Haryana government to immediately get the rail tracks cleared of protesters to restore normal movement of trains.

The high court had also directed all the groups spearheading the Jat agitation to exclude the blockades of trains from their agitational programmes with immediate effect.

Also, the Supreme Court yesterday asked Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan governments to ensure that supply of essential commodities including water to the national capital was not disrupted in the wake of threats by Jats agitating for quota in central jobs. — PTI