Maharashtra government engaged in wooing OBC and Dalits before elections, took decision on the lines of Haryana

The Maharashtra government recommended to the central government in the cabinet meeting held on Thursday that the creamy layer limit for OBC reservation be increased from Rs 8 lakh per annum to Rs 15 lakh per annum. Let us know why the Maharashtra government has made this demand.

Written by: Rajesh Kumar Arya

New Delhi: Before the assembly elections, the Maharashtra government took a big step on Thursday. The Maharashtra cabinet has demanded from the central government to increase the income limit for non-creamy layer from Rs 8 lakh to Rs 15 lakh per annum. Along with this, the Maharashtra government has also approved the draft of the ordinance giving constitutional status to the Scheduled Caste Commission of the state. These decisions are being considered very important before the assembly elections to be held in the state by next month. Let us know what is the politics behind these decisions of the Maharashtra government. What benefit can the Mahayuti of BJP-Shiv Sena and NCP get from this.

What is the challenge for the Maharashtra government

Maharashtra is governed by BJP, Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar’s NCP. The Maratha community has been demanding reservation in Maharashtra for a long time. The Marathas are agitating under the leadership of Manoj Jarange. The Maratha community first agitated for separate reservation. But after the separate reservation was not recognized by the court, it started demanding 10 percent reservation for itself from the OBC reservation.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.

This demand of the Marathas has made the Other Backward Classes (OBC) of Maharashtra uncomfortable. They have also intensified the blockade. This has brought the social divisions in Maharashtra to the surface. Meanwhile, Manoj Jarange has threatened to contest elections against the Mahayuti. The Maharashtra government had called a special session of the Assembly last year and made arrangements to give 10 percent reservation to the Maratha community on the basis of its socio-economic backwardness. Reservation for Marathas in Maharashtra was also made earlier in 2014 and 2018. The court had declared it unconstitutional. Since then, the Maratha community has been demanding 10 percent separate reservation for itself from the OBC reservation.

Haryana government had also increased the limit of creamy layer

The Maratha reservation movement is currently the biggest challenge for the Maharashtra government. Before the elections, the Mahayuti government is under pressure from it. To deal with this, it has demanded from the central government to increase the limit of OBC’s creamy layer from eight lakh to 15 lakh rupees. The OBC community was demanding this for a long time.

Chief Minister Eknath Shinde (center) and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar (left)

Actually, the OBC and Dalit community are believed to be behind the success of BJP in Haryana. In Haryana, BJP’s Naib Singh Saini government had increased the creamy layer limit of OBC from Rs 6 lakh per annum to Rs 8 lakh per annum in the cabinet meeting of June 32. Income from agriculture and salary was excluded from this income. Its notification was issued on July 16. BJP, which was running the government in Haryana for 10 years, was facing anti-incumbency. This decision of Saini government has angered BJP. Played a big role in the victory of BJP. The result of this decision was that defying all the estimates, BJP registered a bumper victory in Haryana. Therefore, the Maharashtra government has demanded to increase the limit of creamy layer of OBC from eight lakh to 15 lakh rupees. Actually, Mahayuti wants to keep OBCs and Dalits with itself in Maharashtra at all costs.

Maharashtra Scheduled Caste Commission will get constitutional status

Along with this, the Maharashtra government has also approved the draft of the ordinance giving constitutional status to the Scheduled Caste Commission in the state. This ordinance will be presented in the next session of the Assembly. According to this, there will be a total of 27 posts in the commission. Apart from this, the Maharashtra government has also decided to form a commission for the economic development of some castes. These include Sola Kulaswamini Economic Development Corporation for Vani community, Brahmaleen Acharya Divyanand Puriji Maharaj Economic Development Corporation for Lohar community, Sant Namdev Maharaj Economic Development Corporation for Shimpi community and Shri Krishna Economic Development Corporation for Gawali community. A budget of Rs 50 crore has been given for the commission to be formed for Lohar and Nathpanthi community.

The decision to form these commissions is being seen as an attempt to keep small communities with them before the elections.

What is creamy layer?

To get the benefit of reservation in Other Backward Class (OBC) category, non-creamy layer certificate is required. This certificate certifies that the family income of the said person is less than the prescribed limit. Creamy layer means the class which has become economically and socially prosperous. People coming in this category do not get the benefit of reservation. The limit of creamy layer is applicable in the reservation of Other Backward Class (OBC).

The provision of creamy layer was introduced to ensure that the benefits of reservation actually reach the people of the deprived sections. The concept of creamy layer was introduced after the Supreme Court’s decision in the Indra Sawhney case (1992). It is also known as the Mandal Commission case. The court had said that the advanced classes of OBCs should not claim the benefit of reservation, while the really needy people of this class should get its benefit.

Creamy layer was introduced in 1993. At that time people with an annual income of Rs 1 lakh were kept under its purview. After this, in 2004 this limit was increased to Rs 2.5 lakh. At the same time, in 2008, the limit of creamy layer was increased to Rs 4.5 lakh, in 2013 to Rs 6 lakh and in 2017 to Rs 8 lakh annually.

Courtesy: Hindi News