Centre has no plan to raise ‘creamy layer’ income cap

NEW DELHI: The Centre has made it clear that it has no plan to raise the income ceiling for ‘creamy layer’ for OBC reservations, though the last revision took place eight years ago and is now twice overdue. There is at present an annual income bar of Rs 8 lakh for the purpose. An OBC family that earns more than the prescribed ceiling is ineligible for quotas in public education and employment. The view in government is that an upward hike would cater to a small segment of OBCs but end up making the competition difficult for poorer OBC segments. A lower ceiling of eligibility leads to greater exclusion of the better-off OBCs and works to the advantage of the financially weaker ones competing for a piece of the same quota pie. According to the norm, income ceiling should be revised eve