People from five OBC communities continued to block the Jaipur-Agra Highway at Aroda village in Rajasthan’s Bharatpur district, demanding separate 12% quota in jobs and higher education institutions.
State Tourism Minister Vishvendra Singh was camping at Bharatpur district headquarters to hold talks with the protesters.
Sangharsh Samiti leader Dilip Singh told The Hindu that a 10-member delegation went to Bharatpur on Tuesday to meet the Minister and Divisional Commissioner Sanwar Mal Verma, but the first round of talks did not yield any positive results.
Hundreds of people have been agitating on the national highway since Sunday evening.
Internet suspended
While the traffic on the highway has been diverted through different routes, about 10 km before the protest site, the district administration has suspended mobile Internet services in Nadbai, Uchain, Weir and Bhusawar tehsils till Wednesday to check the spread of rumours and prevent the situation from deteriorating. No untoward incident has been reported so far.
The police have registered a case in connection with the blocking of National Highway-21. Adequate force, including the Rajasthan Armed Constabulary and Special Task Force, has been deployed near the protest site to keep the situation under control and maintain law and order.
Case registered
People belonging to Saini, Kushwah, Mali, Maurya and Shakya communities have demanded reservation proportionate to their population in the State.
The protesters said the present quota available to the communities in the OBC category was not adequate as most of the families were from the below poverty line category and their children were unable to get profitable employment.
Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot belongs to the Mali community. The population of the protesting OBC communities is spread across the State.
Phule Arakshan Sangharsh Samiti convener Murarilal Saini said at the protest site, near Aroda village, that the youth, who have come out in large numbers from different districts, would block railway tracks in eastern Rajasthan if the State government did not heed to their demand.
