A meeting of the Union Cabinet was held on Friday under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In this meeting, the Supreme Court’s recommendation on the creamy layer in reservation for Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) was also discussed. The Union Cabinet on Friday said in clear words that there is no provision for a creamy layer in reservation for SC and ST in the Constitution given by Bhimrao Ambedkar. Here creamy layer means those people and families of SC and ST communities who fall in the high-income group. 

The unanimous opinion of all the leaders of the cabinet

Regarding the decisions taken by the Union Cabinet, Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnav said that the Cabinet meeting had a detailed discussion on the recent decision of the Supreme Court, in which some suggestions were given regarding reservation for SC and ST. He said that all the leaders of the Cabinet agreed. Also, the NDA government is committed to the provisions of the Constitution. 

 There is no provision for a creamy layer in SC-ST reservation- Government

Vaishnav said that according to the Constitution given by BR Ambedkar, there is no provision for a creamy layer in the SC-ST reservation. He said that the provision of SC-ST reservation should be by the Constitution. When asked whether this issue was raised by the Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment or the Prime Minister, Vaishnav said that this is a well-considered view of the Cabinet.

The Supreme Court had recommended this

Let us tell you that last week the Supreme Court approved giving quota within the quota of SC and ST categories. The court had said that new sub-categories can be created within the SC-ST category. Under this, separate reservations can be given to the most backward sections. This recommendation to the court was made by a constitutional bench of seven judges headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud.