New Delhi/Chandigarh

Yielding to pressure from agitating Jats, Government tonight announced setting up of a committee under a senior Central minister to examine the quota demand for the community in government jobs even as fresh incidents of arson and violence left two more dead taking the toll in the eight-day long stir to 12.

A late night announcement by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh in Delhi said that a committee headed by Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu has been formed to look into the demand for reservation in central govt jobs for Jats.

“I would like to make things clear regarding the ongoing protest. Just now, we have formed a committee which will be headed by our senior Cabinet minister Venkaiah Naidu. The committee has been asked to file a comprehensive report to find the soluction of the issue as soon as possible,” he told reporters.

“I appeal to to the people of Haryana to help maintain clam and peace,” he said after a meeting he had with Union ministers Sushma Swaraj and Manohar Parrikar to take stock of the situation in the state.

The meeting came shortly after a delegation of Jats had a meeting with the Home Minister where it was stated that a Bill will be brought in the coming session of Haryana assembly to give OBC status to Jats in the state.

Even as some fresh incidents of violence were reported, protestors started lifting blockades at some places late in the evening following Centre’s assurances.

Late evening reports said that blockades from some national and state highways including Saharanpur-Ambala at Yamunanagar, Paonta Sahib-Yamunanagar, Ambala-Kaithal, Saharanpur-Pipli-Kurukshetra, Zirakpur-Parwanoo and Ladwa-Shahbad were being lifted.

Normalcy was also reported to be returning to some other cities including Kaithal and officials expected that by tomorrow situation would improve considerably following today’s developments in Delhi.

Haryana Home Secretary (HS) P K Das told media here this evening that one person was killed at Akbarpur Barota in Sonipat district near the Munak canal headwork.

The second person was killed in clash between two groups (Jats and Non-Jats) at Hansi in Hissar district, Das said.

He said that some “Dhabhas” along the Delhi Ambala National Highway near Murthal in Sonipat district were damaged by protestors today. .

Das said IN Chandigarh that efforts were on to evacuate women and children stuck due to the blockades at Bahalgarh and Samalkha on the Delhi Ambala NH.

He said that there was another clash between two groups at Jhajjar where prompt police action prevented the situation from taking an ugly turn.

Road and rail traffic continued to remain disrupted due to blockades at a number of places between Panipat and Delhi on Delhi Ambala NH affecting movement of vehicles to various places in North India. The NH is blocked at many places including Bahalgarh and Ganaur.

The Delhi Jaipur NH was blocked near Rewari but police has got it cleared, he said, adding that Delhi-Hissar-Fazilka NH is blocked at Sampla.

Das said that Delhi-Ambala and Delhi-Rohtak railway routes remain blocked disrupting movement of traffic on the two routes.

Road and rail traffic remained paralyzed as essential supplies, including fuel, milk and vegetables were severely hit. ATMs were also running out of cash, official sources said.

12 persons have been killed and about 150 injured during the ongoing Jat stir, Haryana DGP Yashpal Singhal said.

According to police sources, four persons injured yesterday in firing in Jhajjar succumbed to injuries last night. The deceased hailed from Jhajjar, Rohtak, Sonipat, Hissar and Kaithal districts.

Earlier in morning, authorities clamped curfew in Kaithal city in view of the prevailing tension due to protests by Jats and counter demonstrations by non-Jats opposing quotas for them.

Kaithal is the ninth Haryana town where curfew has been imposed after Rohtak, Bhiwani, Jhajjar, Jind, Hisar, Hansi, Sonipat and Gohana town of Sonipat district.

As markets and commercial establishments remained shut in the wake of violent protests by Jats seeking reservation in government jobs and educational institutions, people belonging to non-Jat communities also took out a procession in the city.

The non-Jats chanted slogans in support of OBC leader and BJP MP Raj Kumar Saini, who has irked the quota seekers with his anti-Jat remarks.

Jat protestors vandalized a college owned by an MP and a hotel in Sonipat where a rice mill was also set on fire.

A number of buses were set ablaze at Tosham in Bhiwani district. BJP MP Dharambir’s house was also vandalized in Bhiwani.

The agitation has hit rail services hard in the northern states, affecting around 1,000 trains with 736 trains cancelled and 105 diverted besides damage to rail property, causing a loss of over Rs 200 Crore to the transporter.

State roadways buses were moved to safer place at Kurukshetra, a report said.

A railway station was vandalized at Ganaur in Panipat district. The booking office and Station Master’s room were damaged.

Among other fresh incidents of violence were today reported in Haryana with Jat protesters in Bhiwani and Sonipat districts setting afire two police chowkis, shops and an ATM even as authorities mounted aerial surveillance in the worst-hit areas and the Army staged flag marches.

Violence was reported in Gohana in Sonipat district; where a mob set on fire several shops, two buses and two motorcycles.

In Bhiwani district, protesters late last night set on fire an ATM of a bank and burnt official records of a cooperative bank in Loharu.

Violence in Hansi last night prompted authorities to impose night curfew from 8 PM to 6 AM.

Police chowkis in Mundal and Kharak in rural areas of Bhiwani were also set on fire. A bus was torched at Tosham in Bhiwani.

Air fares from Chandigarh and Amritsar, both cut off from the national capital by road and rail, have skyrocketed.

BJP vice presidents Satpal Malik and Avinash Rai Khanna and Union ministers Mahesh Sharma and Sanjeev Balyan are the other members of the committee headed by Naidu.

A party statement said the committee will begin working with immidiate effect and give its report to the government as well as party chief Amit Shah at the earliest.

Jat stir: Airlines to fly additional flights for stranded

New Delhi

With public transport system in Haryana in complete disarray because of the Jat stir for quota, domestic airlines have decided to operate additional flights from here to Chandigarh, Amritsar and Jaipur to enable stranded people reach their destinations.

The decision came after the Civil Aviation Ministry asked the airlines to mount additional capacity on these routes as rail and road transport services were completely paralysed in the wake of the nearly week-long agitation.

Budget carrier SpiceJet said it is operating 14 additional services from the national capital to Chandigarh, Amritsar and Jaipur and back, while Jet Airways said it will operate two additional flights, one each to Chandigarh and Amritsar from Delhi tomorrow.

National carrier Air India also operated one special flight to Chandigarh and Amritsar today with nominal fares.

“The additional flights have been put in place at a very short notice and we are the only airline to be operating a total of seven additional return flights (14 one-way) on the requisite routes to facilitate the stranded commuters,” SpiceJet said.

Jet Airways said it was operating additional services to assist those who have been inconvenienced by the lack of availability of other means of transportation to and from these cities.

Gurgaon-based IndiGo said it was adding an additional flight on its Delhi-Jaipur and Delhi-Chandigarh routes, which will be operated tomorrow.

“The airline will also commence two additional flights from Delhi to Chandigarh on February 23 to enable those stranded due to the ongoing protests to travel between the two cities,” it said.

Airport managers in these airports have been given clear instructions to facilitate best possible services to stranded passengers, IndiGo added.

GoAir will also operate four additional flights — two each to Chandigarh and Jaipur — from Delhi tomorrow.

Amid reports that some airlines were overcharging and that some travel portals were exhibiting fares as high as Rs 89,000 for a flight to Delhi from Chandigarh, Jet Airways today said it was not charging “high” air fares for flights.

“Most Jet Airways direct flights to/from Amritsar, Chandigarh, Jammu, Srinagar, Leh and Dehradun have been sold out. Some fares seen on third party online travel portals are constructed by those websites by combining the last available seats on indirect routes with multi-stop flights constructed over any mid-point transfer city to create a roundabout itinerary. In many cases Premiere (business class) cabin fares are shown,” a Jet Airways spokesperson said.

The higher fares that are referred on third party travel portals are the combination of fares over multi-stop flights.

These fares are not available on Jet Airways website, he said.

“Such fares will be influenced by the availability of seats on these two different flights and hence will be generally higher than the direct non-stop flights. It is important to note that the journey times on these itineraries referred to are significantly higher than the direct flight,” the spokesperson said.

“We are working with third party travel portals to not show such roundabout itineraries with last available Premiere cabin seats,” it said.

Arson and violence continued unabated in parts of Haryana today as the death toll in the Jat quota agitation mounted to 10, with four more people succumbing to injuries overnight.

Road and rail traffic remained paralysed as essential supplies, including fuel, milk and vegetables were severely hit. ATMs were also running out of cash, official sources said.

Jat quota stir: veggies costlier, milk supply hit in NCR

New Delhi

Wholesale prices of vegetables such as potato and cauliflower have gone up in Delhi NCR, while milk supplies have been hit by transport disruption due to Jat quota protests in Haryana.

Operations at Amul’s milk plant in Rohtak remained suspended. It has a capacity of 5 lakh litres per day.

Kwality Ltd said it has stopped milk collection from its chilling centres in Sirsa and Fatehabad.

The milk demand is being met in Delhi-NCR by increased supplies from Uttar Pradesh, while that of vegetables is being fulfilled by neighbouring Rajasthan.

The wholesale prices of potato, cauliflower, carrot and green leafy vegetables has risen by Rs 100 per quintal at Azadpur mandi, Asia’s largest wholesale market for fruits and vegetables.

Prices of potatoes and green leafy vegetables have risen by on average Rs 3-4 per kg.

Jat stir: Fuel pumps in 5 districts of Haryana shut down

Chandigarh

As incidents of arson and violence continued unabated in parts of Haryana, fuel pumps in five worst affected districts in the state have been shut down by oil marketing companies.

“Fuel pumps in Rohtak, Bhiwani, Jhajjar, Kaithal and Jind have been shut down because of violence and arson incidents taking place in these areas,” an official told PTI today.

There are 2,370 petroleum pumps in Haryana state.

Official said that unruly mob had even attacked 4-5 fuel pumps in Panipat district and they had even vandalized the property.

“Protesters are targeting fuel pumps run by Haryana Agro and Haryana Tourism,” official said, adding that they had even tried to set fuel pumps on fire.

As agitating Jats put up blockades at several places in Haryana, movement of trucks carrying fuel has been badly hit, leading to shortage of petrol and diesel in various parts of the state.

Similarly, the LPG supply has also been hit, he said.

“Truck drivers are scared of taking fuel to destination as they feel their vehicles can be attacked,” he further said.

Haryana gets LPG from Panipat, Pyala and Gurgaon while petrol and diesel come from Bahadurgarh, Ambala, Panipat and Rewari, official said.