Ahead of Winter Session, NDA under pressure on reservation

Increasingly, the Union government is coming under pressure from parliamentarians, including members of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and even state governments, to increase the figure of ₹8 lakh per year to the non-creamy layer in the OBC. There is also a demand to

Growing pressure

In fact, the state government of Maharashtra under Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has taken the lead and demanded that the Union government should increase the limit to ₹15 lakh per year from ₹8 lakh per year.

The demand by the BJP-led NDA government in Maharashtra for revising the income figure for the non-creamy layer may have strategically come just before the assembly elections but Maharashtra is not the only state that is making this demand.

A similar proposal was mooted by the Haryana government under chief minister Nayab Singh Saini, which also demanded that the income figure of non-creamy layer must be revised so that more OBC community members can benefit from the reservations.

Rodmal Nagar, a BJP parliamentarian and member of parliamentary committee on welfare of Other Backward Classes (OBCs), told The Federal, “There has been a demand by several members of the OBC community to increase amount of ₹8 lakh. The parliamentary committee took up this issue and it has submitted a report suggesting that there is a need to increase the figure,” he pointed out, adding that the debate over increasing the non-creamy OBC layer limit has been continuing for many years now because the last change was made in 2017.

“We are now strongly recommending to the government that ₹8 lakh is not enough and there is a need to increase it so that more people can benefit from reservation,” said Nagar.

Parliamentary committees

With the Winter Session of Parliament scheduled to commence on November 25, the parliamentary committee on welfare of OBCs has submitted a report to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and the Union government urging them to take steps to increase the ₹8 lakh limit.

Even as the parliamentary committee has not spelt out what the increase in the annual income should be, the committee members want the Union government to take a call on the issue.

Subhasish Khuntia, a Biju Janata Dal (BJD) MP and another member of the parliamentary committee on welfare of OBCs, told The Federal that he hoped that the Union government will accept the committee’s recommendations.

"This has been one of the major demands of the OBC community members for a long time, Khuntia said, adding that the committee has submitted a unanimous report and the government has to accept the recommendations.

Reservation in private sector

It is not only the parliamentary committee on welfare of OBCs that is seeking more benefits, the parliamentary committee for Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribe (STs), has recommended that the Centre should consider reservation for the two communities in the private sector.

The committee has recommended to the Lok Sabha Speaker and the Union government to study the possibility of the reservation in the private sector.

Rwngwra Narzary, Member of Parliament (MP) and member of the committee on welfare of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, told The Federal that they asked the government to study the possibility of reservation in private sector.

“There is reservation in the government and public sector, we want to further study if there is possibility of reservation in the private sector,” he pointed out.

Narzary further said that the committee has reached out to the National Commission for Scheduled Caste (NCSC) to conduct a study on this issue. “So far there is no mandate of reservation in private sector and it is only limited to government and public sector,” Narzary added.

Political issue

Political analysts feel that while demand for increasing the non-creamy layer and recommendations to study reservation in the private sector are gaining ground, the issue of reservation has become a highly political issue.

SK Dwivedi, former political science professor at Lucknow University, told The Federal that there will no question of dissent over increasing the income limit for the non-creamy layer or reservation in private sector. Political parties cannot be seen not supporting such a move.

"Reservation is a political issue and all political parties will support any reform for the OBC community and Scheduled Caste since it will help them to win elections. It has become a political and sensitive issue and so all political parties will be unanimous in support of reservations,” said Dwivedi.