Blockades by Jat protesters had slowed down traffic in many parts of Haryana and around Delhi.
Jat protesters lifted blockade from parts of Haryana this evening after the state government said it would give them reservation in the coming budget session of the Assembly. The decision was taken after a meeting of Jat leaders with Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh. Twelve people died and 150 have been injured over the eight days of protests and curfew is in place across four districts.
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Jat community leaders have been assured that reservation will be given on the lines of Special Backward Classes category, sources said. A high-level committee has been formed under Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu "to see how to include Jats as part of OBCs," said Haryana minister OP Dhankar.
The erstwhile Bhupinder Singh Hooda government had given Special Backward Caste to Jats in 2013. But it was stayed by the Punjab and Haryana High Court last year.
The Supreme Court had rejected inclusion of Jats into the Central OBC list on ground that National Commission of Backward Castes does not consider them socially and economically backward in Haryana.
Those attending the meeting with the home minister included Haryana minister Mr Dhankar, BJP general secretary Anil Jain, who is in-charge of Haryana.
Later in the evening, blockades from Panipat, Jind, Kaithal, Bhiwani districts were partially lifted. The blockade of the National Highway 1, too, was lifted.
During the day, the protests had spread wider, with Jats blocking the Shimla highway near Panchkula and the Bahadurgarh road to Haryana from Delhi. Curfew was in place at several towns and districts including Rohtak, Bhiwani, Sonepat, Jhajjar, Hisar and Hansi.
Shrikant Jadhav, Inspector General of Rohtak, which saw the most violence, has been transferred to the state Crime Records Bureau at Karnal.
With road and rail network remaining severely affected, airfare between Chandigarh and Delhi, which is normally between Rs 3,000 and Rs 4,000, shot up to between Rs 16,000 and Rs 27,000. More than 700 trains were cancelled during the day.
Delhi is witnessing a massive water crisis due to the blockade. As the Delhi government shut schools and colleges in view of the crisis, the Centre asked the Haryana government to ensure that Delhi's water supply is not affected.
The violence had started on Friday, as protesters set fire to buses, cars, a mall, a petrol pump and the house of the state finance minister Captain Abhimanyu in Rohtak.
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