Huge security arrangements were placed in both the states to maintain law and order, the police said.

Bharat Bandh Today 21 August: The day-long Bharat Bandh called by some Dalit and Adivasi groups on Wednesday against the Supreme Court's verdict on the sub-classification of Scheduled Castes failed to garner much response in Punjab and Haryana. Although protests were held in some places, there was no huge impact in the states.  

While essential services were supposed to be not working during Bharat bandh's ambit, public transport as well as shops and other commercial establishments functioned normally in Punjab and Haryana.

Notably, huge security arrangements were placed in both the states to maintain law and order, the police said.

In the meanwhile, markets and business establishments were open as usual in the majority of areas of Punjab. However, some educational institutions were closed as a precautionary measure.

A protest march was taken out in Phagwara and Jalandhar. In Haryana, some members of Dalit communities participated in a protest march in Hisar but the bandh failed to evoke any response in Ambala.

As many as 22 organizations across the country called for the Bharat Bandh against the Supreme Court order. 

The August 1 Supreme Court order held that states are constitutionally empowered to make sub-classifications within SCs, which form a socially heterogeneous class, for granting reservation for the uplift of castes that are socially and educationally more backward among them.

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