India's Government Rejects Income‑Based Sub‑Quotas for SC/ST Reservations

The Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court of India opposing a petition that seeks income‑based sub‑quotas within the existing reservation categories for Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), Other Backward Classes (OBC) and Economically Weaker Sections (EWS). The petition, filed by Ramashankar Prajapati and others, asks the court to direct the Centre to create a merit‑cum‑means system that would give higher priority to economically weaker candidates within each reserved group.

The government argues that the “creamy layer” principle, which excludes wealthier OBCs, is limited to OBCs by the Indra Sawhney judgment and does not apply to SCs or STs, a view reinforced by the Ashoka Kumar Thakur decision. It contends that any alteration of reservation policy must be enacted by Parliament after a comprehensive socio‑economic review, and that the petition’s relief is vague and unsupported by data.