Table of Contents
‘Creamy layer’ principle does not apply to SC/ST reservations, PM Modi assures BJP MPs
Law Minister says Supreme Court judgment on sub-categorisation within the SC list contains nothing on identifying and excluding the ‘creamy layer’, which only appears in a judge’s “observations”
BJP MPs from Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha belonging to ST/SC communities meet with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Parliament House in New Delhi on August 9, 2024.
| Photo Credit: ANI
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday (August 9, 2024) assured a group of BJP MPs belonging to Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) communities that no ‘creamy layer’ distinctions would be applied within the quota of jobs and seats in educational institutions reserved for SCs.
Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal also told the Lok Sabha that the ‘creamy layer’ principle was not part of the Supreme Court’s recent judgement on sub-categorisation within the SC quota.
In his meeting with the MPs, which included Mr. Meghwal and Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Kiren Rijiju among others, Mr. Modi was firm in his assurances.
On reservations and the OBC creamy layer | Explained
‘No creamy layer’
After the meeting held at Parliament House, former Union Minister and BJP MP Faggan Singh Kulaste posted on X, saying that the delegation of MPs had requested the Prime Minister not to consider the opinion of four judges who had advocated the application of a ‘creamy layer’ principle within the SC quota. These four judges were part of the seven-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court that recently allowed State governments to create sub-categories within the SC list.
“Prime Minister Modi agreed with the feelings expressed by the delegation of MPs and and said that he was committed to not applying the creamy layer within the SC category,” Mr. Kulaste. Sources confirmed that this was indeed the Prime Minister’s position on the issue.
‘Only observations’
In the Lok Sabha, the Law Minister asked the Opposition not to “mislead” the society on the “observations” of a Supreme Court judge on carving out a ‘creamy layer’ for exclusion from SC/ST reservations.
Replying to supplementaries during Question Hour, when Shiv Sena-UBT MP Bhausaheb Wakchaure raised the issue, Mr. Meghwal said, “The reference to creamy layer in the sub-categorisation of SC/STs is an observation by a Supreme Court judge and not a part of the decision. The member should not make an attempt to mislead the society.”
On August 1, a seven-judge Bench of the Supreme Court had ruled in a 6:1 majority judgment authored by Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud that State governments were permitted to sub-classify communities within the SC list based on empirical data, to grant quotas within the reserved category to uplift those who belong to the more underprivileged castes.
Supreme Court judges’ take on creamy layer among SCs causes uproar
A separate but concurring judgment authored by Justice B.R. Gavai had said that States must evolve a policy for identifying the ‘creamy layer’ even among the SC and ST categories and deny them the benefit of reservations.
The BJP has been riven with internal differences on the issue of sub-categorisation, and even more so on the application of the ‘creamy layer’ principle within the SC quota. Thus, no clear response had been forthcoming from the party on the Supreme Court’s verdict. The Prime Minister’s assurance now seems to have cleared the air for the BJP and the government on this matter.
Read Comments
- Copy link
- Telegram
READ LATER
Remove
SEE ALL
PRINT
Related Topics
Parliament proceedings
/
Prime Minister Narendra Modi
/
Lok Sabha
/
Rajya Sabha
/
Reservation