JAIPUR, India — Leaders of one of India’s lower castes reached an agreement with the government of a western Indian state on Wednesday, officials said, ending weeks of often violent protests.
The Gujjar tribe began protesting on May 23 to demand that the government of Rajasthan state reclassify them as members of the lowest caste, allowing them to benefit from government quotas in higher education and government jobs.
On Wednesday, after two days of talks with Gujjar leader Kirori Singh Bainsala, the state’s chief minister Vasundhara Raje Scindia said that her government will create a special category for Gujjars and two other tribal groups, the Banjaras and Rewadis, and grant them 5 percent of reserved seats in government jobs and educational institutions.
The Gujjar leader said he welcomed the announcement. “The agitation will be called off,” Bainsala said in Jaipur.
The Gujjars are considered part of the second-lowest group, known as Other Backward Classes, a step up from the Scheduled Tribes and Castes, the lowest classification.
Wednesday’s announcement does not reclassify them as a Scheduled Tribe as they had earlier demanded but creates a special category for them within the Other Backward Classes.
Soon after India’s independence from Britain in 1947 it became illegal to discriminate against someone based on the Hindu caste system. But its influence remains powerful, and the government sets quotas for jobs and university spots for the different caste groups.
Gujjar villagers had blocked roads and rail tracks and held angry protest rallies demanding reclassification.
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