Amarinder Singh blames Parkash Singh Badal for denial of reservation to Jat Sikhs

Congress leader Amarinder Singh today slammed the Punjab goverment for not making recommendation to the Centre for reservation to Jats under OBC category, saying the community in Punjab was deprived of the benefit.

Welcoming the Centre's decision to grant reservation to Jats under the OBC category, Amarinder said only those states which had presented their case to the Centre would be entitled to the benefit, and Punjab government failed to do so. The Union Cabinet yesterday approved the inclusion of the Jat community in the Central list of OBCs for the states of Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttarrakhand, Uttar Pradesh and the National capital territory of Delhi.

Blaming Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal for the "criminal lapse", Amarinder said he had reminded him (Badal) several times to present the case before the Centre so that thousands of Jat youth could get the benefit. The Congress leader noted that Akali Dal had passed a resolution in teh Assembly seeking reservation for Jats in Punjab, but the government did not make any move for the purpose.

Amarinder, who is also president of the All India Jat Maha Sabha, said Badal was blind to the woes of the common Jats in Punjab and his government's lapse would cost the poor Jat Sikh youth benefits in about 1.5 lakh Central jobs and an equal number of admissions in various academic institutions.