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Reservations & OBC Creamy Layer
Context:
The IAS allotment to Puja Khedkar, an OBC Non-Creamy Layer candidate with multiple disabilities, has highlighted issues with the OBC creamy layer criteria.
History of Reservation:
- Constitutional Provisions: Articles 15 and 16 guarantee equality in government policies and public employment, allowing special provisions for socially and educationally backward classes (OBC), Scheduled Castes (SC), and Scheduled Tribes (ST).
- SC and ST Reservation: Fixed at 15% for SC and 7.5% for ST in jobs, educational institutions, and public sector undertakings (PSUs) at the central level.
- OBC Reservation: Implemented in 1990 under Prime Minister V. P. Singh, based on the Mandal Commission (1980) recommendations, providing 27% reservation in central government employment.
- Extension to Education: In 2005, reservation was extended to OBC, SC, and ST in educational institutions, including private institutions.
- EWS Reservation: In 2019, a 10% reservation was introduced for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) among the unreserved category.
Mandal Commission Recommendations:
- Reservation in Jobs and Education: 27% reservation for OBCs in central government services, PSUs, and educational institutions.
- Promotion Quotas: 27% reservation in promotions at all levels of public services.
- Unfilled Quotas: Reserved quotas should be carried forward for three years.
- Age Relaxation: Similar to that for SCs and STs.
- Extended Reservation: To PSUs, banks, private sector undertakings receiving government grants, colleges, and universities.
- Legal Provisions: Government to implement necessary legal provisions.
Creamy Layer:
- Supreme Court Ruling: In the Indra Sawhney case (1992), the Supreme Court upheld the 27% OBC reservation but fixed a cap of 50% for reservation, allowing for exclusion of the creamy layer to uphold equality.
- Criteria: Based on the Justice Ram Nandan Prasad Committee (1993), it considers the parental income, excluding salary and agricultural income, being more than ₹8 lakh annually over the last three years.
- Additional Criteria:
1) Parents in government service as Group A/Class I or Group B/Class II officers.
2) Parents in managerial positions in PSUs.
3) Parents holding constitutional posts.
Issues with the Reservation System:
- Inadequacies in Process: Allegations of obtaining NCL or EWS certificates through dubious means. Similar issues with disability certificates for availing 4% reserved seats in central government jobs. Strategies to bypass creamy layer exclusion like gifting assets or taking premature retirement.
- Concentration of Benefits: The Rohini Commission estimates 97% of reserved jobs and seats are garnered by around 25% of OBC castes/sub-castes at the central level.
1) Close to 1,000 of 2,600 OBC communities had zero representation in jobs and educational institutes.
2) Similar concentration issues exist within SC and ST categories without creamy layer exclusion.
- High Percentage of Reservation: Currently at 60%, including EWS, reflecting societal realities and the need for higher reservation percentages.
- Unfilled Reserved Seats: Government reports indicate 40-50% of seats reserved for OBC, SC, and ST in the central government remain unfilled.
Way Forward:
- Plugging Loopholes: Implement thorough scrutiny in the issuance of NCL, EWS, and disability certificates to ensure only eligible applicants obtain benefits.
- Filling Reserved Vacancies: Address the backlog and promptly fill vacancies for reserved communities.
- Sub-Categorisation of Reservation: Implement to address under-representation or non-representation of various communities within OBC, SC, and ST categories.
- Consideration of Creamy Layer Exclusion for SC and ST: Explore this possibility, especially for children of Group I/Class A government officials.
- Initiating Dialogue: Begin discussions with all stakeholders to weigh arguments and counterarguments for a balanced approach.
- Ensuring Equitable Distribution: Ensure benefits of reservation reach the more marginalised among the underprivileged in successive generations to make the reservation system more effective and equitable.