Chandigarh: The Haryana government has deputed senior IAS officers to guide and support deputy commissioners in eight districts in view of Basant Melas, which are organised to promote cashless transactions, and the Jat agitation.
The officers have been asked to reach the respective district latest by noon on Saturday and remain present there till February 20 to support the deputy commissioners based on any input that might independently be received by them.
The government has observed that even as some districts have nearly finished holding their Basant Melas for disseminating information on all citizen services being extended by various departments of the state government, the deputy commissioners are to focus on coordinating efforts to ensure that the ongoing dharnas remain peaceful. It is worth mentioning that the the Jat agitation completed 20 days on Friday. More protesters have joined in the past fortnight.
The All India Jat Aarakshan Sangharsh Samiti, which is spearheading the agitation, has called for “Balidan Diwas” (sacrifice day) on February 19.
Jat community members have been holding protests across Haryana since January 29 in support of their demands.
Their demands include reservation for Jats, jobs to the next of kin of those killed in violence in the agitation in 2016, the withdrawal of cases against them and action against officers who ordered action against the protesters.
Violence during the agitation last year left 30 people dead and over 200 injured. Government and private property worth crores were damaged during the violence in February 2016.
