Home Economy Kerala panel defines OBC creamy layer with Rs.450,000 a year tag

Kerala panel defines OBC creamy layer with Rs.450,000 a year tag

By IANS,

Thiruvananthapuram : The Justice Rajendra Babu Commission has recommended Rs.450,000 a year as the income limit defining the creamy layer among other backward castes (OBC), Kerala Chief Minister V.S.Achuthanandan said here Sunday.

After receiving the report Sunday from Justice Babu, Achuthanandan told reporters that the commission’s report has been accepted and it would be placed before the state cabinet for its final decision.

On Oct 3 this year, the central government decided to raise the income ceiling from Rs.250,000 to Rs.450,000 a year to define the creamy layer among the OBC who would not qualify for the job quota.

Then the state government asked the Rajendra Babu Commission to finalise its view and submit a report.

The commission too recommended that families earning over Rs.450,000 per year should be considered “creamy layer” among the OBCs.

After the central government raised the income limit, a social organisation of the powerful Nair community among the Hindus in Kerala said the decision was meant for garnering votes.

The Nairs in the state belong to the upper caste and have been demanding employment reservation based on economic status of the family and not merely on its the social and community status.

Muslims, who constitute nearly 23 percent of the state’s population of 32 million, are included in the OBC list in Kerala. Also included under the OBC category are almost 10 percent of the Christians – forming 22 percent of the state’s population.

The biggest chunk of the OBCs comes from the Hindu Ezhava community that constitutes over half the number of the Hindus here.