The persons, whose parent’s annual income is 8 lakh rupees or more than 8 lakh rupees, comes under the term of ‘Creamy layer’. This is applicable to the persons of OBC class. It is not applicable to SC and ST categories. The candidates who come sunder Creamy Layer is considered as General category students. The reservation benefits by the Government are not applicable to these candidates.
The term ‘creamy Layer’ was introduced by Sattanathan Commission in 1971 . It directed that ‘Creamy Layer’ should be excluded from reservations of civil posts. Later, it was identified by Justice Ram Nandhan Committee in 1993.
During the ongoing Monsoon Session of Parliament, several MPs have raised the issue of revising the criteria for defining the creamy layer among OBCs. Earlier, the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment forwarded a draft Cabinet note to the NCBC stating that the ‘Creamy Layer’ will be determined on all incomes except agricultural income. It was based on the recommendations of a committee, headed by former DoPT Secretary B P Sharma.
On 13 August 1990, the Centre notified 27% reservation for Socially and Educationally Backward Classes (SEBCs) for civil posts and direct recruitment services upon the recommendations of the Mandal Commission. On 16 November 1992, the apex court upheld 27% reservation for OBCs, subject to exclusion of the creamy layer.
After the court upheld the reservation in the Indra Sawhney case, an expert committee led by retired Justice RN Prasad was constituted to determine the criteria for creamy layer among OBCs.
On 8 September 1993, the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) listed out various categories of people of certain rank/status/income whose children cannot take advantage of OBC reservation.
In 1971 the Sattanathan Committee defined the ‘Creamy Layer’ as “the gross annual income of parents from all sources more than Rs. 1 lakh per annum”. In 2014, the Creamy Layer ceiling was revised to Rs. 2.5 lakh per annum, later to Rs. 4.5 lakh in 2008, Rs. 6 lakhs in 2013, and Rs. 8 lakhs in 2017. While the DoPT stipulated that the income limit would be revised every three years, however, it is more than three years since the last revision.
The term ‘Creamy Layer’ is applicable for those who are not government employees, the current threshold is an income of Rs. 8 lakh per year, for the children of government employees, income from salaries or agricultural land.
In October 2015, the NCBC proposed that if a person belonging to OBC with a gross annual income of parents up to Rs 15 lakh should be considered as the minimum ceiling for OBC while the Centre is considering a consensus on Rs. 12 lakhs. The NCBC further recommended the sub-division of OBCs into backward, more backward and extremely backward categories, and divide 27% quota amongst them in proportion to their population.
In July 2020, the Parliament Committee on Welfare of OBCs headed by BJP MP Ganesh Singh noted that the provision of revision of income limit after three years is not being followed by the Government, and is therefore violative of the norms set by the Government themselves.
On 21 July 2020, Amit Shah called a meeting attended by NCBC delegates and the then BJP General Secretary Bhupendra Yadav. NCBC delegates flagged the poor representation of OBCs in central government jobs and that several OBC-reserved posts were being filled by general category candidates with the noting on files that none found suitable. Amit Shah asked them to gather such data and meet again. As per sources, the NCBC delegates are ready with the data and are waiting for a meeting with the Home Minister.
It is to be noted that until 30 September 2018, the creamy layer categorization was only for the OBCs but now it is also applied to the SCs and STs to strike down any reservation meant for a creamy layer among the most backward classes. In December 2019, the Centre has appealed in the Supreme court against the previous order of applicability of creamy layer to the SC/ST quota.
In the case of Jarnail Singh v Lachhmi Narain Gupta which is also known as ‘Reservation in Promotion case’, the Supreme Court delivered its verdict on 26th September, 2018 with reference to the case of M. Nagraj and others v Union of India, that the Application of creamy layer to promotions for Scheduled castes and Scheduled tribes. It had resulted in thousands of employees being denied their due promotions. The court viewed the principle of the creamy layer as a principle of identification and not of equality.
Reference: http://www.jagranjosh.com
Written By:
AKHILA SOMINENI
[3rd Year, BBA.LLB(Hons.)] under the guidance of Dr. Nagalatha Bathina, Associate Professor, Vignan Institute of Law.
Editorial Director:
Dr. Nagalatha Bathina, Associate Professor, Vignan Institute of Law.
Editors:
Dr. Praveen Kumar, Director, Vignan Institute of Law
Mr. L. Ashish Kumar, Assistant Professor, Vignan Institute of Law
Blog Managed By:
Taj Mahamood Baig [2nd Year, BA.LLB(Hons.)]