Jat stir continues in Haryana, rail service badly affected

CHANDIGARH: Jats demanding quota in government jobs occupied 14 railway tracks in Haryana today as part of their agitation badly disrupting train services in the region.

"Our stir will continue peacefully till our demand is met," Hawa Singh Sangwan, Haryana State President of All India Jat Arakshan Sangharsh Samiti, the body spearheading the agitation, said.

"We have not received any communication from any body for the talks," he said.

Jats are also contemplating to block important roads in the state in the days ahead to press for their demand, he said.

The Centre had earlier held a round of talks with the Jats in a bid to put an end to the agitation which has entered its third week affecting normal life at many places.

Train services on 14 rail lines in Haryana, including Mumbai-Delhi-Rewari, Bhiwani-Delhi-Rohtak, Delhi-Ludhiana-Jind, Narwana-Kurukshetra, Rohtak-Panipat, Rewari-Loharu, Loharu-Jaipur, Hisar-Jaipur, Bhiwani-Hisar, Hisar-Bathinda, and Delhi-Jind-Ludhiana continued to remain disrupted for yet another day today.

The ongoing fortnight-long stir by Jats has badly affected rail traffic in northern India, forcing the Northern Railways to cancel several trains, divert routes of some others.

With the disruption in the supply of coal, the Rajiv Gandhi Thermal Power Plant, Khedar, Hisar has been closed.

At a meeting held at Kurukshetra recently, the agitating Jats had threatened to block the Delhi-Ambala rail route if their demand was not met by March 25.

They also threatened to cut off the national capital from the rest of north India in the next phase of their stir if their demand was not fulfilled by March 28.