Meghwal accuses Oppn of creating confusion over perception of cream layer
He also said the government should have brought a legislation before Parliament to nullify the part of the recent Supreme Court verdict dealing with this issue | (Photo: PTI)
Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal has accused the Opposition of creating confusion among the people over the Supreme Court’s ‘remark’ about a ‘crème de la crème’ between SCs and STs. He claims that BR Ambedkar’s Constitution has no provision for a ‘crème de la crème’.
In an interview to PTI Videos, he said the BJP-led NDA government will follow the Ambedkar Constitution and continue the reservation system for scheduled castes and scheduled tribes as enshrined therein.
Meghwal noted that even though the opposition knows that the Supreme Court has only made a ‘remark’ on the cream of the crop, it is still trying to create confusion among the people.
On Saturday, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge had said that the idea of not granting reservations to SCs and STs on the basis of the ‘creamy layer’ concept is ‘objectionable’
He also said that the government should have brought a bill to parliament to nullify the part of the recent Supreme Court ruling that deals with this issue.
Meghwal underlined that the Supreme Court has said that if the states want to, they can do sub-classification. But SC has not yet taken a decision on creamy layer. It is an observation, he claimed.
“There is a difference between directing and observing,” he reminded the opposition.
Earlier this month, a seven-member bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud ruled by a 6:1 majority that state governments can sub-categorize communities within the SC list based on empirical data.
Supreme Court Justice BR Gavai said states should evolve a policy to identify the crème de la crème, even among the Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST), and deny them the benefit of reservations.
Justice Gavai wrote a separate but concurring judgment in which the Supreme Court held by a majority judgment that the states have the power to sub-classify Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes to allocate quotas within the reserved category for the betterment of those belonging to the more disadvantaged castes.
The Union Cabinet on Friday held a detailed discussion on the Supreme Court verdict on sub-categorisation of reservations for SCs and STs as enshrined in the Constitution, in a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“The Union Cabinet is of the view that the NDA government is strictly adhering to the provisions of the Constitution as expounded by Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar,” Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw told reporters.
(Only the headline and image of this report may have been edited by Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
First publication: Aug 11, 2024 | 12:47 PM IST