The key demand of the Jats is inclusion in the Centre's backward caste list. (AFP photo)
The BJP governments in Delhi and Haryana went into an overdrive on Monday to send out assurances to the Jat community which has left a trail of violence and arson over the last nine days.
The Haryana government gave ample indications that it plans to bring a legislation to add the community in the list of Backward Castes. Top sources said the addition could be done on the basis of special category or economic backwardness.
The BJP fielded its top Jat leaders in Haryana, including rural development minister Chowdhry Birendra Singh to negotiate an end to the protests. The promises include a legislation to qualify Jats as Other Backward Castes so they become eligible for quota in jobs in Haryana, which is a work in progress.
But the community is pressing for more. It wants to be included in the Centre's list of Backward Castes to be eligible for quotas in central jobs.
To work out a solution, the BJP committee headed by Union minister M Venkaiah Naidu, which also includes central ministers Mahesh Sharma and Sanjiv Baliyan, party leaders Satyapal Malik and Avinash Khanna, held the first meeting on Monday evening.
After the meeting, Mr Baliyan told NDTV, "The first priority of the commission is to restore peace and harmony in Haryana".
Regarding the community's demands to be eligible for quota in central jobs, Mr Baliyan said, "The Centre will find a solution within the framework of the Constitution and the spirit of the Supreme Court order."
In March 2015, refusing to accept Jats as a backward community, the Supreme Court had quashed the UPA government's decision to extend the OBC quota in central government jobs to them. The reservation introduced for Jats in nine states including Haryana was set aside.
But after the NDA government filed a review petition, the court asked for a report from the National Commission for Backward Castes to ascertain whether the Jats are indeed a backward community.
Though the decision on the petition is pending, the Centre, now facing a hostile agitation, can't wait.
"It's a tricky situation," said a senior minister in the government. "The Centre has to satisfy the Jats by including them in the central Backward Caste list. And it has to be done in a manner that the decision can stand scrutiny in the top court."
Adding to the government's task is the nudge from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the BJP's ideological mentor.
The Sangh has traditionally been in favour of rationalisation of reservations and wants a mechanism for determining which caste or section.
On Monday, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat suggested that a non-political committee be formed to decide on eligibility for reservation. "Many people are demanding reservation.... The committee should be apolitical so that there are no vested interests," he said.