7 ministers committee to talk to the communities seeking reservation

Gandhinagar

Gujarat Chief Minister Mrs. Anandiben Patel today constituted a seven member committee of ministers under the chairmanship of health minister Nitinbhai Patel to talk to the representatives of  Patel and other communities and castes who are demanding reservation for them.

     Talking to UNI, soon after the constitution of the committee in which the six other ministers as members are Babubhai Bokhiriya, Ramanbhai Vora, Bhupendra Singh Chudasma, Ms Vasuben Trivedi, Rajni Patel and Nanubhai Vanani, Mr. Nitinbhai Patel said it would talk to all the concerned castes including the Patels or Patidars in a phased manner.

   ‘We will talk to all of them and then hand over our report to the Chief Minister. There is no time frame for it. We would call the representatives and hear them one by one before preparing a detailed report,’ the health minister said.

   Meanwhile the step has been taken in connection with ongoing demonstrations especially the ones by politically dominant Patels under the umbrella front of Patidar Anamat Aandolan (Patel reservation movement). The front has so far held several big rallies across the state since the July first week violent demonstration in Visnagar of Mahesana. The Patels are demanding their inclusion in the other backward classes (OBC) category. Some other castes including the Raghuvanshis have also raised similar demand. The upper caste Brahmins (Brahamsamaj) and Kshatriyas have also joined the pro-reservation bandwagon asking for quota for economically weaker sections of these communities.

    The committee has been constituted days ahead of the proposed Maharally of Patels in Ahmedabad in which they have claimed to gather over 20 lakh people.