Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Dec 1: Reiterating their demand, Batwal Welfare Association in its meeting held here today for finalizing the arrangements for celebration of Sri Guru Gyagi’s 117th Birthday, which falls on February 14, 2014, urged the State Government to declare birthday of the Guru Gyagi as public holiday in district Jammu by notification in the Official Gazette.
It also urged the Government to allot a suitable piece of land to the Batwal Community in the vicinity of Jammu for the construction of a Community Facility Hall.
Association leaders while addressing the meeting said that the Batwal community which has big strength has been totally neglected by the Government at all levels and this has been the reason of its backwardness and abject poverty.
They alleged that the Government Departments do not bother to take prompt action on the representations of their community members. They further stated that the Community has not been given any representation in Legislative Council, District Development Boards or any other forum of the Government though other privilege communities rotationally availed this opportunity.
They said even the reservation benefits are taken by the members of those Scheduled Castes communities with whom the rearmost Batwal community members cannot compete. They proposed that to ensure equity in reservation all the 13 Scheduled Castes of the State be categorised into sub-groups with each block assigned a fraction of 8% reservation quota.
The Association leaders demanded dispensation of ‘Economic-cum-Employment Package’ to the Community so that economic condition of the community members gets enhanced to some extent.
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