Cabinet clears norms for equivalence of creamy layer criteria to PSUs, PSBs

New Delhi, Aug 30: The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi today approved norms for establishing equivalence of posts in Government and posts in Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) and Public Sector Banks for claiming benefit of OBC reservations. Announcing this, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the move would 'address an issue pending for nearly 24 years' by ensuring that the children of those serving in lower categories in PSUs and other institutions can get the benefit of OBC reservations, on a par with children of people serving in lower categories in Government. 'This will also prevent children of those in senior positions in such institutions, who, owing to absence of equivalence of posts, may have been treated as non Creamy Layer by virtue of wrong interpretation of income standards from cornering government posts reserved for OBCs and denying the genuine non creamy layer candidates a level playing field,' Mr Jaitley said breifing the media after the Cabinet meeting. The Union Cabinet also approved the increase in the present income criterion from Rs 6 lakh to Rs 8 lakh per annum for applying the Creamy Layer restriction throughout the country, for excluding Socially Advanced Persons/Sections (Creamy Layer) from the purview of reservation of Other Backward Classes (OBCs). The new income criterion will be Rs. 8 lakh per annum and the hike is in keeping with the increase in the Consumer Price Index and will enable more persons to take advantage of reservation benefits extended to OBCs in government services and admission to central educational institutions. UNI