Munish Sood
Mandi
A district-level convention of the Rajput community was organised under the banner of Shri Rajput Sabha, District Mandi in Ner Chowk on Sunday under the chairmanship of prominent social worker Surat Singh Guleria. The meeting witnessed strong participation from community members across the district.
Senior office bearers of the Himachal Pradesh Rajput Mahasabha attended the convention as special guests, including State President Er. K.S. Jamwal, Senior Vice President Dr. Amar Singh Guleria, Vice President Er. D.K. Chandel, Deputy General Secretary Hem Singh Thakur, Treasurer Narottam Rawat, Special Organiser Ravindra Singh Guleria and Ramesh Mehta. Office bearers from neighbouring units of Loonapani, Sadar Mandi, Behna and Sundernagar were also present.
Addressing the gathering, the speakers urged members of the Rajput community to unite and remain vigilant in safeguarding their constitutional right to equality in independent India. Serious concern was expressed over what they described as continued neglect of the Rajput and general category communities in the name of caste-based appeasement by both the Central and State governments.
The members unanimously resolved to launch a special awareness and membership drive at the panchayat level to mobilise Rajput and general category families and ensure household-level enrolment in the organisation.
Key Demands Placed Before the Government
State President Er. K.S. Jamwal recalled that during a meeting held on June 28, 2025, the Chief Minister had assured sympathetic consideration of the Mahasabha’s major demands after obtaining reports from concerned departments and had also directed the administration to convene a special review meeting. However, no concrete action has been taken so far, leading to growing resentment, particularly among the youth.
The convention placed the following major demands before the government:
1. Reconstitution of the General Category Commission
2. Reservation based purely on economic criteria and exclusion of financially strong creamy-layer families from SC/ST benefits
3. Stopping indiscriminate financial allocations under the SC/ST Atrocities Act
4. Discontinuation of hefty incentives for inter-caste marriages involving SC/ST communities
5. Ending caste-based discrimination in schools in matters of uniforms and scholarships
The gathering also took strong exception to the recent notification issued by the Himachal Pradesh Public Service Commission fixing eligibility test fees at ₹1150 for General Category candidates, ₹600 for OBC candidates and only ₹325 for SC/ST candidates. The convention urged the Chief Minister to intervene immediately and cancel the notification, demanding a uniform fee structure for all categories.
Ner Chowk Unit Formed
During the convention, the Ner Chowk unit of Shri Rajput Sabha was formally constituted. By unanimous consent, Tej Singh Thakur was elected President, Nilesh Kumar Thakur as General Secretary and Dharam Singh Parmar as Treasurer. They were authorised to constitute the remaining executive committee.
Prominent members including Buddhi Singh Sen, Dhyan Singh Guleria, K.S. Minhas, Pradeep Guleria, Hardev Singh Thakur, Gangveer Singh, Prem Lal Verma, Rajendra Sen, Karam Singh Thakur, Vivek Thakur, Dile Ram, Ravi Kant Thakur, Tamber Singh, Narendra Thakur and Sunil Kumar Chandel were also present.
