Creamy Layer Not To Be Excluded From SC ST Quotas After Centre Opposes Move

The Centre has opposed exclusion of affluent members of Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) from reserved quotas for the communities in the Supreme Court, The Hindu has reported.

Responding to a PIL by Samta Andolan Samiti, which represents poor and downtrodden within the SC ST communities in Rajasthan, Additional Solicitor General (ASG) representing the government has said that the government won’t be diluting any SC ST reservation benefits for the creamy layer.

The Samiti had filed a PIL seeking an Other Backward Class (OBC) like exclusion of creamy layer from the SC ST quota benefits, claiming that they were cornering the bulk of benefits meant for the whole community hence nullifying the objective of reservations.

A 1992 judgement by he Supreme Court had excluded creamy layer in the OBCs from quota benefits which has been the norm for OBC reservations since then.

“Weak always remains the weak and the fortunate layers consume the whole cake.

The uplifted/affluent and advanced sections of the SCs/STs snatch away the maximum benefit and the 95 per cent members of these communities are at a disadvantage,” the Samiti’s petition read.

The case was being heard by a two-judge bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justice AM Khanwilkar. The bench has also asked the centre to formally clarify that it is opposed to creamy layer exclusion in the SC ST quotas.