EWS Reservation - No Change In Rs 8 Lakhs Gross Annual Income Cut-Off; Residential Asset Criteria Omitted : Centre Tells Supreme Court

The Central Government has told the Supreme Court in an affidavit that it has decided to accept the recommendation made by an expert committee to retain the limit of Rupees 8 lakhs gross annual income for Economically Weaker Section(EWS) reservations.The Centre has also accepted the recommendation to omit the residential asset criteria for EWS eligibility. However, the ongoing admissions, including the NEET-PG counselling, will proceed as per the existing criteria and the revised criteria will be applied from the next academic year onwards, the Centre further said.The affidavit has been filed in response to a writ petition challenging the Centre's decision to introduce EWS/OBC reservation in the All India Quota for NEET. The Supreme Court had earlier expressed doubts regarding the reasonableness of Rs 8 lakhs income criteria for EWS, following which the Centre agreed to revisit the same after formulating an expert committee. The Centre also put on hold the NEET-PG counselling process in view of the case pending before the Supreme Court.NEET-PG Counselling : Centre Decides To Retain Existing EWS Criteria; Files Affidavit In Supreme Court Committee For Revisiting The Criteria Of The Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) ReservationThe Central Government formulated a Committee for revisiting the criteria of the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) reservation on November 30, 2021, comprising: Shri Ajay Bhusan Pandey- Former Finance Secretary, GOIProf VK Malhotra- Member Secretary, ICSSRShri Sanjeev Sanyal- Principal Economic Advisor to GOI (Member Convenor)The Committee had to:Revisit the criteria in O.M. dated 17-01-2019 in determining the EWS category keeping in view the observations of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in their Order dated October 21, 2021 Examine various approaches so far followed in the country for identifying EWS andRecommend criteria that may be adopted for identifying EWS category in futureCriteria For Determining EWS Reservation Which Existed Prior To The ReportAs per OM dated January 17, 201,9 persons who are not covered under the scheme of reservation for SCs, STs and OBCs and whose family has a gross annual income below Rs 8 lakh are to be identified as EWSs for benefit of reservation.Furthermore, persons whose family owns or possesses any of the following assets were to be excluded from being identified as EWS: (a) five acres of agricultural land and above; (b) a residential plot of 100 square yards and above in notified municipalities and 200 square yards and above in areas other than notified municipalities; and (c) a residential flat of 1000 square feet and aboveThe word family included the candidate, his/her parents, under-18 siblings, spouse, and his/her under -18 children.Income also had to include income from all sources i.e., salary, agriculture, business, profession etc. for the financial year prior to the year of application.Revised Criteria For Determining EWS ReservationUsing a set of indicators that minimized Type I (Minimizing the inclusion of the undeserving ones) and Type II errors (Minimizing the exclusion of deserving ones), the Committee arrived at the revised EWS criteria wherein:A. Only Those Families Whose Annual Income Is Upto Rs 8 Lakh Would Be Eligible To Get The Benefit Of EWS ReservationA.1 Though Specific Number Of Rs 8 Lakhs Appears To Be Same As OBC Creamy Layer Cut-Off, Application Of The Cut-Off Is Very Different In EWS & OBC As Two Have Different Contexts The Supreme Court had prima facie observed that applying the income limit criteria(Rs 8 lakhs annual income) of OBC Creamy lawyer to EWS was unreasonable, as the latter had no concept of social and economic backwardness.In this regard, the Committee opined :EWS's criteria related to the financial year prior to the year of application whereas the income criterion for creamy layer in OBC category was applicable to gross annual income for three consecutive years. For deciding the OBC creamy layer, income from salaries, agriculture and traditional artisanal professions was excluded from the consideration whereas Rs 8 lakh criteria for EWS included that from all sources including the farming"The Committee found that though the specific number of Rs 8 lakhs appears to be the same as the OBC creamy layer cut-off, the application of the cut-off is very different in EWS and OBC as the two have different contexts. The income criterion for the EWS is much more stringent than the one for the OBC creamy layer", the report said.A.2 Cut-Off Lower Than Rs 8 Lakhs On Family Income Would Be Unduly Restrictive & Lead To Errors Of Exclusion Of Deserving Eligible PersonsThe Committee in this regard referred to the definition of family for EWS and the fact of inclusion of agricultural income (that did not attract income tax) in the income criteria. Considering the current income tax reforms wherein effective income tax on individuals was zero for those with annual incomes up to Rs 5 lakhs, the Committee said that after taking...

EWS Reservation - No Change In Rs 8 Lakhs Gross Annual Income Cut-Off; Residential Asset Criteria Omitted : Centre Tells Supreme Court

Shruti Kakkar

The revised EWS criteria will be applied only from next academic year and the ongoing admissions will be as per existing norms.

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