Creamy layer inclusion to hit needy: Moily

Veerappa Moily, chairman of the oversight panel set up to prepare road map for OBC reservations in elite educational institutions, today contradicted the wisdom of not only his own party but also Parliament by saying that the creamy layer should not get quota benefits.

"Benefits of reservations will not reach the poor and needy among the backward classes if the creamy layer is not excluded," Moily, who was in Ahmedabad as part of the Administrative Reforms Commission, said.

The Congress wants that quotas for the creamy layer - the first and second generation of those who have used reservations - should continue.

"We, in our recommendations for 27 per cent OBC reservations in institutes of higher education, had left the creamy layer issue to the Centre. However, in the appendix, we discussed the issue and said that reservation benefits to the creamy layer would exclude the poor from getting them," Moily said.

The Karnataka government had excluded the creamy layer, Moily said, adding that other states like Tamil Nadu had identified the most deprived among backward classes for giving them the benefits of reservations.

He said the poor among backward classes should be given the first chance to fill the quotas and the creamy layer should be admitted only if there were vacancies.

Moily said the Gujarat government was yet to implement reservations in self-financed colleges. The Centre has passed an amendment in this regard but the state government is yet to take a decision. The ARC has already submitted three reports - Implementation of Right to Information, Implementation of National Rural Employment Guarantee Act and Crisis Management.

"We will submit a report on ethics in governance in January and a fifth report on public order, conflict resolution and terrorism in February," Moily said.

He said th ARC was preparing the reports after feedback from state governments and public.

The commission is expected to meet Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi tomorrow.