The Union Cabinet on Friday categorically asserted that the principle of creamy layer does not apply to reservations for Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs). Announcing this at a Cabinet briefing, Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said extensive discussion was held on the recent Supreme Court judgement that allowed States to sub-categorise SCs and STs.
“This government is committed to the Constitutional provisions given by Babasaheb Bhim Rao Ambedkar. There is no provision of creamy layer in Babasaheb’s Constitution. The Cabinet’s well thought through decision is that it is only as per Babasaheb’s Constitution that reservations for SC/ST should be provided,” Mr. Vaishnaw said after a meeting of the Union Cabinet.
Earlier in the day, 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.
‘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.
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.
Published - August 09, 2024 08:28 pm IST
