Centre has no plan to raise ‘creamy layer’ income cap

NEW DELHI: The Centre has made it wide that it has nary program to rise the income ceiling for ‘creamy layer’ for OBC reservations, though the past revision took spot 8 years agone and is present doubly overdue.

There is astatine contiguous an yearly income barroom of Rs 8 lakh for the purpose. An OBC household that earns much than the prescribed ceiling is ineligible for quotas successful nationalist acquisition and employment. The presumption successful authorities is that an upward hike would cater to a tiny conception of OBCs but extremity up making the contention hard for poorer OBC segments. A little ceiling of eligibility leads to greater exclusion of the better-off OBCs and works to the vantage of the financially weaker ones competing for a portion of the aforesaid quota pie.

According to the norm, income ceiling should beryllium revised each 3 years to origin successful inflation, truthful that the economical criterion for quota eligibility, arsenic defined by the ‘creamy layer’, does not go regressive and wounded the backward classes. The ceiling was past revised successful precocious September 2017 from Rs 6 lakh to the existing Rs 8 lakh and was owed for a revision successful October 2020. It was to beryllium revised again successful 2023, but govt has refused to determination up connected the issue.

The parliamentary Committee connected Welfare of OBCs, headed by BJP MP Ganesh Singh, successful its 7th report, had impressed connected section of unit & grooming and the societal justness ministry the request for a revision of the income ceiling. While cardinal govt successful February 2020 did initiate a Cabinet connection to hike income ceiling from Rs 8 lakh to Rs 12 lakh, the contented kicked up a contention arsenic the societal justness ministry sought an overhaul of the norms to see “salary” successful the computation of “income”.

According to the 1993 OM that governs “creamy layer” and besides defines “income”, “salary and cultivation income” are not included successful the calculation, and lone “income from different sources” forms portion of the “total income”.

The enactment forced govt to enactment the connection successful heavy freeze. Since then, determination person been demands that govt decouple the 2 proposals — connected overhauling the explanation of “income” and revising the income ceiling to Rs 12 lakh — and determination connected conscionable the second proposal. But the societal justness ministry refused to bash so, calling it a betterment package.