Increase in Income Limit of OBC | 24 Jun 2024
Why in News?
Recently, Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini announced an increase in annual income limit for creamy layer of Other Backward Classes (OBC) from ₹6 lakh to ₹8 lakh.
Key Points
- The primary goal is to safeguard the welfare of the OBC community in Haryana and provide substantial benefits to the youth in government jobs.
- The chief minister stated that the reservation quota for backward classes in Group-A and Group-B positions, presently at 15%, will be raised to 27%, aligning with the policy of the Central government.
Reservation in India
- In exercise of the powers conferred by Article 340 of the Constitution, the President appointed a backward class commission in December 1978 under the chairmanship of B. P. Mandal.
- The commission was formed to determine the criteria for defining India’s “socially and educationally backward classes” and to recommend steps to be taken for the advancement of those classes.
- The Mandal Commission concluded that India’s population consisted of approximately 52 percent OBCs, therefore 27% government jobs should be reserved for them.
- The commission has developed eleven indicators of social, educational, and economic backwardness.
- Apart from identifying backward classes among Hindus, the Commission has also identified backward classes among non-Hindus (e.g., Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, and Buddhists.
- It has generated an all-India other backward classes (OBC) list of 3,743 castes and a more underprivileged “depressed backward classes” list of 2,108 castes.