New Delhi: A Parliamentary Committee on central employment to the Other Backward Classes (OBC) has faulted the stringent creamy layer conditions preventing fulfilling 27% vacancies.
In its report tabled in both the Houses of Parliament on Monday, the committee rejected the claim that the shortfall in filling up OBC vacancies is due to non-availability of the suitable candidates.
The committee, headed by BJP MP Ganesh Singh, held in its report submitted to then Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan in March that "there is a limit to which the income of a person can be taken as measure of his social advancement."
In its recommendation, the committee said: "Policy decisions should not prescribe unusually rigid income limits because such restrictions have the effect of taking away with one hand what is given with the other." It stressed that "the economic criteria prescribed should be a realistic one."
Asking the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment to take into account the trend in GDP rise, inflation, per capita income, all round economic growth, rise in cost of living, increased costs of health care, transport and education,
the committee called for "a judicious and realistic enhancement of the ''income ceiling'' for determining the ''creamy layer'' among OBCs to a reasonable level" and ensure the income ceiling is periodically revised every three years as stipulated in the Department of Personnel and Training OM dated 8th September 1993.
The gross annual income ceiling for determining the ''creamy layer" that was fixed at Rs 1 lakh was last revised from Rs 6 lakh to Rs 8 lakh with effect from September 1, 2017. The committee faulted the government for not revising the income ceiling every three years as stipulated in the 1993 order.
The committee noted that despite four revisions in the income criteria since 1993, 27% vacancies reserved for the OBCs are not being filled up on examining data received frfom 78 ministries/departments as on 01.01.2016.
In Group A category of employees, the OBCs account for only 13.01% (11,016 out of total 84,705 employees), while in Group B, it is 14.78% (42,995 out of total 2,90,941 employees).
It is 22.65% in case of Group C employees, excluding Safai Karmachari) as the OBCs account for 6,41,930 as against total 28,34,066 employees in this group.
As regards the Safai Karmacharis in C group, only 7,076 OBCs are employed against the total staff of 48,951, i.e. 14.46%. The total OBC employees in the central government account for 7,03,017 as against the total staff strength of 32,58,663, i.e. 21.57%.
