House Panel Chief Says OBC Creamy Layer Income-test Issue Stuck Between Two Ministries: Report

New Delhi: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP and chief of House committee on welfare of Other Backward Castes (OBCs) Ganesh Singh has said that the OBC creamy layer income test issue appears to be stuck between the Ministry of Personnel, Pensions and Public Grievances and the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.

The Hindu has reported that Singh said while the policy should be formulated ideally by the Ministry of Social Justice based on the Supreme Court's reading of the income test in its March ruling, it has "not happened yet”.

The Supreme Court had said that it will hear the Union government's application seeking clarification on the income test component of the OBC creamy layer exclusion criteria in its March 11 judgement.

The apex court had observed hat the income or salary of a parent working in a private company or public sector undertaking could not, on its own, determine whether an OBC candidate falls within the creamy layer, and the nature and status of the parent’s post would also have to be seen.

“The personnel ministry and the social justice ministry seem to be passing the job along to each other. Ideally, the social justice ministry should have formed the policy on equivalence of posts and application of the income test so that it can be placed before the Cabinet. But that has not happened," Singh told TH.

Earlier this month, the Union government in its applications to the Supreme Court has said that establishing equivalence for all existing state PSUs itself could take up to two years and that it may take more time to do this for posts in the private sector.

The All India OBC Students Association also issued a statement and said that for the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) and the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), the issue of equivalence and application of the income test after the Supreme Court ruling can be resolved and it is "a matter of just one day."

"For the PMO and DoPT, resolving OBC Creamy Layer issue following the Supreme Court’s judgment is a matter of just one day. What is missing is not the time or the administrative capacity, but the political will and commitment to address the genuine concerns of OBCs," the statement said.

"The government must stop delaying justice to OBCs and demonstrate its commitment through concrete action."

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