Zee Media Bureau
New Delhi: UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Sunday met a delegation of Jat leaders who thanked her for the decision of recommending reservation for the community in central government jobs.
Today`s meeting between the Jat community leaders with Gandhi is considered to be a significant development as the decision of the Union Cabinet is being seen as an effort of the UPA to woo the community ahead of the 2014 General Elections.
Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, his son, Deepender Singh Hooda, and former speaker Balram Jakhar were among the prominent leaders who called on Sonia.
The UPA chairperson, in turn, surprised the crowd which landed up at her gates by stepping outside her residence to greet them.
Expressing his gratitude, Deepender said that the doors for the community was closed following a National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC) decision in 1999, but added that things looked positive for them with the Union Cabinet`s direction to the former.
The Cabinet had on Thursday asked NCBC to take a final call on granting Jats OBC status at the central level.
The Cabinet decided that NCBC should reconsider its 2011 decision in which it had rejected the demand for Jat reservation in central government jobs.
The demand for reservation for Jats has come from nine states - Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Uttarakhand and Bihar.
Notably, if Jats are included in the central list of OBCs, they can avail benefits of reservation in central government jobs and central education institutions as per the existing norms.
With PTI inputs
