Same Income Criteria For OBC & EWS Not Arbitrary; Rs 8 Lakh Limit Adopted After Due Deliberation : Centre Tells Supreme Court

Pursuant to Top Court's order asking Centre to apprise the Court of the reasons for with its decision to adopt the criteria of annual income of Rupees 8 lakhs for determining the eligibility for Economic Weaker Sections ("EWS") in the NEET All India Quota, the Central Government today filed an affidavit justifying its stand.The Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment said in its affidavit that the determination of EWS category is the result of serious consideration that had already taken place to determine the criteria in the context of OBC's. It further stated the the adoption of the same income criteria for OBC creamy layer and EWS is not The affidavit has been filed in the writ petitions challenging Centre's notification of granting 27% reservation for OBC and 10% for EWS in 50% All India Quota seats in admission to medical courses.Would It Be Arbitrary To Provide Same Income Limit For OBC & EWS Categories? Supreme Court Asks Centre SUBMISSIONS IN THE AFFIDAVITA. Exercise Undertaken By The Union Government For Determination Of EWS Category With Reference To Major General Sinho's Report With regards to the issue as to whether the Union Government undertook an exercise before arriving at the criteria for determination of EWS category, the Centre has submitted that the criteria for determination of EWS category was derived after due deliberation within the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment and all the concerned stakeholders. On this aspect, Centre has further submitted that, "Even before the Office Memorandum dated January 17, 2019 was in existence in the context of identification of Economically Backward Classes ("EBC") , the Government had set up the Major General Sinho Commission in the year 2005. This Commission had by its report of July 2010, arrived at various conclusions including the criteria to identify "creamy layer" amongst OBC's could well serve as a basis to decide the upper limit or as a criterion for identifying EBC families amongst the General Category as well. Alternatively the Commission recommended that BPL families from the General Category whose annual family income from all sources is below the taxable limit (as may be revised from time to time) may be identified as EBCs." Relying on the Government of India's Office Memorandum dated September 8, 1993 based on which income tax limit of Rs 1 lakh that was fixed, Centre has submitted that this limit (Rs 1 lakh) has been raised from time to time on the basis of cost of living and at present the same stands at Rs 8 lakhs per annum. "In the year 2016 the upper-income limit for determination of Creamy Layer in respect of OBCs was Rs 6 lakhs per annum. In order to maintain the same living standard in 2017, the same was adjusted to Rs 8 lakhs on the basis of Consumer Price Index. As the CPI had increased from 197 (December, 2011) to 268 (March, 2016), the multiplier was 1.36. Therefore to maintain the same standard of living, the income limit of Rs 6 lakhs was multiplied with 1.36 to arrive at 8.16 lakhs which was rounded off to Rs 8 lakhs," Centre has submitted."Once such an exercise had already been done, the Government of India has adopted the same financial criteria. It is reiterated that although the Sinho Commission Report is one of the aspects taken into consideration while arriving at a policy decision to provide reservation to EWS of the society and the income criteria now fixed is not on the sole basis of the Major General Sinho Commission Report," the affidavit states.B. The Determination Of EWS Category Does Not Suffer From Over Inclusiveness Submitting that any criteria based on a cut off is likely to have some degree of assumption, the centre in its affidavit has stated that the determination of EWS category in terms of the Office Memorandum dated January 17, 2019 is not over inclusive and ought not to be interfered with. "The fixation of 8 lakh as income criteria is on the basis of the criteria detailed in the affidavit after taking into consideration the criteria for determining the creamy layer of OBCs. Further even the Major General Sinho Commission had recognised that the very same test can also be applied for determining EWS. To provide further checks so as to ensure that only the needy get the benefit of Article 15(6) and Article 16(6) reservations, the office memorandum dated January 17, 2019 provides further exclusions," centre has further submitted in this regards.C. Fixation Of Same Income Limit for OBC And EWS Category Is Not Arbitrary Submitting that the principle of fixation of Rs 8 lakh as criteria for determination of EWS as also for determination of Creamy Layer in the OBC category is rational and in keeping with Article(s) 14, 15 and 16, Centre in its affidavit has stated that, "The exercise conducted to determine the Creamy Layer for the purpose of OBC reservation would be equally...

Same Income Criteria For OBC & EWS Not Arbitrary; Rs 8 Lakh Limit Adopted After Due Deliberation : Centre Tells Supreme Court

Shruti Kakkar

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