GG News Bureau
Mumbai, 3rd August. Union Minister Ramdas Athawale has voiced strong opposition to any move to apply the creamy layer criteria to reservations for Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST), following a historic Supreme Court verdict on sub-classifications within these communities to extend wider quota benefits.
Athawale, who heads the Republican Party of India (Athawale), acknowledged that the Supreme Court’s decision allowing states to sub-classify SCs/STs will provide justice to the more backward castes within these groups. However, he firmly rejected the application of the creamy layer criteria to SC/ST reservations.
Speaking on Friday, the Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment also called for similar sub-classifications for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) and general category members.
“The reservation for SCs/STs is based on caste. The RPI (A) will strongly oppose any move to apply the criteria of creamy layer to reservation for SCs and STs,” Athawale stated. His party is a constituent of the BJP-led NDA.
On Thursday, a seven-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud ruled by a 6:1 majority that states can sub-classify SCs and STs to ensure quotas for more backward castes within these groups. Four of the six judges who agreed that states have this power wrote in separate judgments that those in the creamy layer should be excluded from reservation benefits.
Supreme Court judge Justice B R Gavai stated that states must develop a policy to identify the creamy layer even among SCs and STs and deny them reservation benefits.
Athawale highlighted that there are 1,200 Scheduled Castes in India, with 59 in Maharashtra alone. He suggested that, in accordance with the Supreme Court judgment, the Maharashtra government should establish a commission to study Scheduled Castes and sub-classify them into categories A, B, C, and D to ensure justice for all castes within the SC category.
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