Presentation of Chopra Committe report postponed till Monday

Jaipur, Dec 15 (UNI) The Three member Chopra Committee constituted by the Rajasthan Government to examine the Gujjar community's demand of ST status, finalised its report today, it which would be presented to Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje on Monday.

The committee headed by Justice Jasraj Chopra, was scheduled to present the report to Ms Raje here at 1700 hrs this evening but the programme was postponed for Monday as the chief minister was not available in the state capital today, an Official Spokesperson said here tonight.

Meanwhile, uncertainty prevailed for hours over submission of the report as the committee members had made all the preparations for the submission.

The 192 - page report was sealed and wrapped for presentation to the Chief Minister and committee chairman Justice Chopra and other two members waited for hours at the Khasa Kothi till last evening for a call from the CMO.

The Committee was constituted by the state government on June 13 in compliance with the peace understanding signed between Chief Minister Raje and representatives of the Gujjar Reservation Action Committee, led by its convenor Col Kirodi Singh Bainsla, on June 4 after a weeklong pitched agitation.

The agitation, launched by the action committee throughout the state from May 29, had witnessed widespread violence, arson, damages to railway tracks and police firings at a number of places.

The violence and police firings had left 25 people dead and scores of others injured.

The committee was initially accorded a term of three months for submission of the report but later the state government extended on September 15 the term by three months to enable it to accomplish the task by December 15.

The Gujjars' demand of ST status was countered by the Meena community and several other tribal groups in the state, demanding disbanding of the committee.

The Meena community leaders including its sitting MLAs and members or council of ministers had also resorted to pressure politics tactics to create pressure against the Gujjars' demand.

Accordingly, Food an Civil Supply Minister Kirodi Lal Meena had reiterated his threat that he would quit his post if the government opted to recommend to the Centre in favour of Gujjars' demand. Two BSP MLAs, Murari Meena and Suresh Meena also threatened to resign if the state government conceded to the Gujjars' demand.

During the six months, the committee received over 14,600 representations, recorded oral presentation by around 2000 delegations or individuals, visited 147 villages and ordered survey of over 400 villages to testify evidence.

The documents examined by the committee also included reports of District Collectors of the 28 of the 32 districts on the status of the Gujjar communities in their respective districts.

UNI