Jats Community Demands and Water Supply Disruption

Jat community protesters, angry at caste job quotas, seized Munak canal in neighbouring Haryana state on Monday.Army took control of this area. The land-owning Jat community is relatively affluent and has traditionally been recognized as upper caste. Jats comprising 27% of the voters in Haryana and dominating a third of the 90 state assembly seats. They are a politically influential community. Seven of the 10 chief ministers in Haryana have been Jats.

The Jats are currently listed as upper caste but the demonstrators have been demanding inclusion in caste quotas for jobs and education opportunities that have been available to lower castes since 1991.

India’s Supreme Court ruled in 2015 that the Jats were not a backward community. As jobs have dried up in the private sector and farming incomes have declined, the community has demanded the reinstatement of their backward caste status to enable them to secure government jobs.

With the help of Army water supplies have been partially restored in the Indian capital, Delhi, after repairs began on a key canal which supplies much of the city.