Union Minister Chaudhary Birender Singh says reservation is Jat community's 'right'

Minister of State for Rural DevelopmentChaudhary Birender Singh, on Monday said reservation is right of Jat community.

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New Delhi: Amid the ongoing protests by the Jats for quota in jobs and education in neighbouring Haryana, Minister of State for Rural DevelopmentChaudhary Birender Singh, on Monday said reservation is right of the community.

"The reservation is the right of Jat community, there is no difference between Yadavs and Gujjars," Singh told the media here.

Over 7,000 troops of central security forces are helping the Haryana Police patrol highways, railway tracks, important government offices and public places.

The districts on high alert include Rohtak, Jhajjar, Sonipat, Jind, Bhiwani, Hisar, Fatehabad, Panipat and Kaithal.

The call for the renewed agitation has been given by the All-India Jat Aarakshan Sangharsh Samiti. However, some sections of the Jat community and its leadership have distanced themselves from the agitation call.

A 24-hour helpline (0172-2740390) has been set up in Chandigarh.

Mobile internet and bulk SMS services have been banned in Sonepat and Rohtak.

Last month, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar of the BJP led the effort to clear a new law that includes the caste as a beneficiary of affirmative action policies. But the Punjab and Haryana High Court has put the law on hold because it busts a prescribed cap of 50 percent on quotas.

Jats, Jat Sikhs, Rors, Tyagis and Bishnois, are seeking reservation under the Other Backward Classes(OBC) category.

They had been promised that the Economically Backward Category (EBC) quota will be increased from 10 percent to 20 percent by the state government.