Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Wednesday approved an increase in gross annual income limit for creamy layer of the Other Backward Classes and Backward Classes from ` 6 lakh to `8 lakh. The decision is in line with the Central Government's directive to ensure greater social justice and inclusion of members of the Other Backward Classes (OBC) and Backward Classes in the matter of reservation, said an official spokesperson.
The Union Cabinet had, in August this year, decided to raise the income limit from `6 lakh to `8 lakh per annum for determining the creamy layer among the Other Backward Classes.
This was the fourth revision of the creamy layer, which was fixed at `1 lakh in 1993 and subsequently hiked to `2.5 lakh in 2004, `4.5 lakh in 2008 and `6 lakh in 2013.
The move is reported to be aimed at ensuring more equitable distribution of reservation benefits among the OBCs. The decks have now been cleared for issuance of the necessary notification by the department of welfare of scheduled castes, backward classes and minorities, the spokesman added.