Northern Railways has started restoring services after the three-week-long agitation by the Jat community seeking job quotas was suspended on Saturday afternoon.

The agitating Jats started clearing rail tracks after the Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, assured a 33-member delegation of the Haryana Jat Arakshan Samiti (HJAS) that he would look into their demands and take a decision in six months.

“We have full faith in the Haryana Government's assurance. After six months we will take a call. As of now, we are clearing the tracks,” Mr Hawa Singh Sangwan, President of HJAS, told Business Line .

Mr Sangwan said both the Haryana Chief Minister and the State Home Minister had agreed that the demands were justified.

Sources said Mr Hooda agreed to set up a Haryana Backward Classes Commission within a month. It would consider the demand of communities of Roar, Jat, Jat Sikh, Tagi, Bishnoi and others that want to come under the ambit of backward classes.

The Jat community members had blocked rail tracks at several places in North India. About 2,400 passenger trains had been cancelled, diverted or short-terminated (change in origin or destination) since March 5.

The agitation had also affected the supply of coal to power houses in Haryana and Rajasthan. Foodgrain movement from Punjab to other parts of the country was also hit.

By Saturday evening, the Railways had managed to restore services of 13 trains.

“Rail traffic on Jakhal-Dhamtan Sahib, Narwana-Kurukshetra, Dhamtan-Sahib-Narwana and Ghaso-Narwana sections of Delhi Division has been restored,” Northern Railways stated.

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