Punjab Cabinet Approves Backward Class Quota For Jats

CHANDIGARH – The Punjab Cabinetdecided to include Jats in the BackwardClasses category Wednesday night. Withthis, Jats will be the 69th community tobe included in the category.Former Punjab Chief Minister CaptAmarinder Singh had attacked the Badalgovernment for not taking up the Jatquota issue with the Centre.Consequently, Jats from Punjab werenot included in the recently declaredCentral OBC quota list, he said.The Centre had recently announced itsdecision to extend OBC status to Jats ofHaryana, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh,Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar,Gujarat, Uttarakhand and Delhi.The exclusion of Jats from Punjab inthe OBC category sparked a politicalslugfest in the state. Capt AmarinderSingh, who is also All-India JatMahasabha president, said only thosestates that had presented their case tothe Centre were given the benefit of Jatquota and the Punjab Government’sfailure to do so had deprived the communityof the benefit. Denying allegations,Chief Minister Parkash SinghBadal said the Congress-led Centre wasbiased against the state and that was thereason why Punjabi Jats were notallowed the reservation benefit.