New Delhi: Government on Tuesday invited
protesting Jat leaders in Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, demanding
reservation in Central Government jobs, for talks in a bid to
find an amicable resolution to the vexed issue.
Home Minister P Chidambaram and Social Justice
Minister Mukul Wasnik would be holding the talks on behalf of
the government and they are likely to be held tomorrow,
official sources said.
The Jat community is demanding reservation under OBC
category in Central jobs.
The decision to hold talks with the agitating Jats was
taken at a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Political
Affairs (CCPA) chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Attorney General Goolam Vahanvati was also present at the
meeting.
Government will make a statement in Parliament
tomorrow on the issue, Minister of State for Parliamentary
Affairs Ashwani Kumar earlier said in Rajya Sabha when the
issue was raised by BJP member Ramdas Agarwal.
At the AICC briefing, party spokesman Abhishek Singhvi
steered clear of the issue describing it as a "delicate and
sensitive" issue which needed to be resolved through dialogue
and discussion.
He said the party would not like to give any
definitive comment. All stakeholders including state
government should resolve it through discussions, he said.
Singhvi said the party was against any violence in
such agitations.
The over a week-long Jat stir has badly hit the rail
movement with protestors squatted on rail tracks disrupting
movement of trains in various parts of North India.
Jats have threatened to cut all essential supplies to
Delhi if their demands are not met by March 17. Agitators have
also threatened plan to block the supply of oil from Mathura
refinery to Delhi.
PTI
First Published: Tuesday, March 15, 2011, 18:53