Parliament to discuss backward caste 'creamy layer'

New Delhi: Parliament will on Monday discuss the vexed issue of exclusion of the "creamy layer", or the elite, from the reservation quota meant for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in central higher educational institutions.

Although the government has decided against tinkering with the creamy layer criterion fearing judicial intervention, it is compelled to take up the issue in the Lok Sabha for discussion, government sources said yesterday.

Several constituents of the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) are in favour of scrapping the very concept of creamy layer so as to benefit a larger segment of the OBCs though the Supreme Court, in its verdict last month, asked the government to exclude the creamy layer from the ambit of the reservation policy.

The court has directed a review of the OBC list every five years.

Beyond judicial review

The government has since decided to implement the OBC reservation in the higher educational institutions, including in the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) from the next academic session.

UPA allies like the DMK besides other parties have demanded a review and constitutional amendment to ensure that the creamy layer is not excluded from the purview of OBC reservation. They have also demanded that the matter be put in the Ninth Schedule of the constitution that is beyond judicial review.

The "creamy layer" includes children of those holding constitutional positions, judges of the Supreme Court and high courts, and sons and daughters of Group A/Class 1 officers of the All-India central and state services (direct recruits).

Those having a gross annual income of Rs250,000 (Dh23,600) or above are also included.