The Rajasthan Assembly on Wednesday passed a bill giving a five per cent quota in government jobs and educational institutes to Gujjars and four other communities agitating for it, hours after the leader of the protest, Kirori Singh Bainsla, took ill during sit-in dharna.
The Congress government introduced the bill amid protests in the state for reservation for the community. The bill sought to increase the backward classes' reservation from the present 21 per cent to 26 per cent with a five per cent quota for Gujjars, Banjaras, Gadia Lohars, Raikas and Gadaria communities.
The statement on the objective and reasons for the bill said the five castes are the most backward and required a separate reservation in government jobs and educational institutes.
Bainsala's supporters have blocked the Delhi-Mumbai railway track in Sawai Madhopur district and several highways since Friday.
Earlier in the day, Bainsala was reported sick. A team of doctors conducted his medical check up at the sit-in site in Malarna Doongar after he felt uneasiness.
The community had refused to call off the agitation even after IAS officer Neeraj K Pawan held talks with Bainsla at the site and informed him that the government has introduced a bill to provide reservation to Gujjars and other castes.
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