Offer land ownership, reservation to Rajput Sikhs: PM urged

New Delhi, Aug 10 (UNI) A 40-member delegation of Rajput Sikhs, led by Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker Charnjit Singh Atwal, today called on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, demanding land ownership for the community and reservation in government jobs and educational institutes.

''Our community may also be given reservation and preference in government posts, educational and professional institutions'' to enable it to be ''linked to the mainstream,'' the delegation said in a two-page memorandum submitted to Dr Singh.

The Prime Minister assured them that the Centre would do the needful in consultation with the state government and the Commission for Backward Classes.

Stating that the community, mostly living on the banks of Satluj river since independence, had made the land of this belt greener and fertile, the members of the delegation said these farmers ''are still landless and are fighting to get their ownership rights on this land which may be granted to them.'' They said most of those belonging to the community were landless and their standard of living and literacy levels ''are dismally low.'' Mr Sukhbir Singh Badal and Mr Parmjit Kaur Gulshan (MPs) were among the delegates.

UNI SN MSJ VV1439