Several trains in the Kota division have been cancelled due to the tents erected on railway tracks in protest by a section of the Gujjar community demanding reservation. The protest led by Gujjar leader Kirori Singh Bainsla of the Gujjar Arakshan Sangharsh Samiti (GASS) had also affected the train movement on the Delhi-Mumbai line.
Due to this protest, as many as four trains were diverted and as many as 14 have been cancelled between Sawai Madhopur to Bayana section and Nimoda to Malarna block section in Kota Division of Western Central Railway.
One of the members of the protesting group said, "We have a good Chief Minister and a good Prime Minister. (But) We want that they listen to the demands of the Gujjar community. It isn't an uphill task for them to provide reservation."
Earlier on Friday, the Gujjars staged a 'rasta-roko' dharna at the railway tracks in Rajasthan's Swai Madhopur district, demanding implementation of the 5 percent reservation that was promised to them by the state government.
On October 26 last year, the Rajasthan Government passed a bill which increased Other Backward Classes (OBC) quota from 21 percent to 26 percent and in December 2018, the Rajasthan Government also approved one percent reservation for Gujjars and 4% for OBCs.
At present, these communities are getting one percent separate reservation under the legal limit of 50 percent reservation meant for the most backwards category in addition to OBC reservation.