Ahmedabad: Prominent leaders from the Patidar community on Wednesday met Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel and sought resolution of pending demands such as the withdrawal of cases filed against Patidar quota agitators. The meeting, coming ahead of Gujarat Assembly elections which are due by year-end, took place at the chief minister's official residence in Gandhinagar.
"The state government's approach was positive during the meeting. The chief minister has given an assurance that he will try to find a solution to these issues at the earliest. We were informed that the Chief Minister's Office has also instructed concerned officials to expedite the work," said C K Patel, a key member of the delegation.
Leaders of nearly 20 organizations of the Patidar (or Patel) community including Umiyadham and Khodaldham met the CM, he added. These organizations have formed the World Patidar Federation for better coordination, he said. "We requested the CM to speed up the withdrawal of all remaining cases lodged against Patidars during the 2015 Patidar quota agitation. We also drew his attention to our old demand that at least one family member of the 14 Patidar community members killed during the agitation be given jobs," Patel further said.
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Other issues raised at the meeting included the problems faced by Patidar youths in getting loans from the Gujarat State Commission for Unreserved Classes because of staff shortage, he said. "We urged the CM to bring the commission under the purview of the Education Department to speed up work. We also demanded that the commission's annual budget be increased from Rs 500 crore to Rs 1,000 crore. The limit on student loan should also be hiked from Rs 15 lakh to Rs 25 lakh," said Patel.
Asked if the chief minister promised to resolve these issues before the Assembly elections, Patel said their demands had nothing to do with elections. (PTI)
