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Jaipur: Leaders of one of India's lower castes reached an agreement with the Rajasthan Government yesterday - ending weeks of often violent protests, officials said.
Gujjars began protesting on May 23 to demand that the western Indian state government reclassify them scheduled Caste, allowing them to benefit from government quotas in higher education and government jobs.
After two days of talks with Gujjar leader Kirori Singh Bainsala, the state's Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje Scindia said yesterday her government will create a special category for Gujjars and two other tribal groups, the Banjaras and Rewadis, and grant them 5 per cent of reserved seats in government jobs and educational institutions.
Special category
The Gujjar leader said he welcomed the announcement. "The agitation will be called off," Bainsala said in state capital Jaipur.
The Gujjars are considered part of the second-lowest group, known as Other Backward Classes, a step up from the Scheduled Tribes and Castes, the lowest classification.
Yesterday's announcement does not reclassify them as a Scheduled Tribe as they had earlier demanded but creates a special category for them within the Other Backward Classes.
Gujjar villagers had blocked roads and rail tracks and held angry protest rallies all over Rajasthan and in parts of the northern state of Uttar Pradesh and around the capital New Delhi demanding reclassification.
The riots had begun after a government panel recommended a $70 million (Dh257 million) aid package for the Gujjar community, but ruled out caste reclassification.
Forty three people were killed in the violence, most of them shot by police during protests in Rajasthan, while one policeman died after a beating and one protester was trampled to death. Most of the deaths took place during the first two days of protests.
Twenty-six people died in Gujjar riots in Rajasthan last year.
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