Opinion - Letters to the Editor   

Protect creamy layer

This refers to the Supreme Court ruling excluding the creamy layer among the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes from the purview of reservation. The creamy layer concept is an anomaly. Reservation is a corrective meant to address social backwardness. Only Parliament that represents the people can take decisions such as excluding the creamy layer. The backward sections, which constitute a majority of the population, are poorly represented in class one services. The scene is worse in the private sector. Parliament should amend the Constitution to protect reservation for the SCs, the STs, and the OBCs.

A. Ahana,
Kodungallur, Kerala

The verdict is a case of judicial over-activism. The judiciary should have left it to Parliament to take a decision on the creamy layer, based on ground realities.

Ashik Mohideen Rowther,
Chennai

As a member of the Dalit community, I protest the judgment. Dalits and Adivasis are just about managing to come up despite strong opposition from various quarters. So far they have been given only marginal space in education and employment opportunities. The benefits of reservation cannot reach the downtrodden overnight. It will take some more time.

The concept of creamy layer is biased and one-sided. Exclusion of the creamy layer will result in negative discrimination. The Supreme Court should first accept that an unjust social set-up prevails in India and that it is this set-up based on the varna system that is the main impediment to the ineffectiveness of reservation.

S. Xavier,
Tiruchi

It is not always fair to dismiss the opinions of politicians as vote-bank politics. They are the representatives and voice of the people. Despite reservation in employment and education for over 50 years, the SCs and the STs remain in the lowest level of development and they (including the so-called creamy layer) are not free from caste-based discrimination. Any attempt to exclude the creamy layer will dilute the concept of protective discrimination. It will push successive generations back to the lowest rung of the social ladder with history repeating itself.

E. Pavuna Sundari,
Chennai

I agree that reservation is meant for the underprivileged among the backward. But the creamy layer is also the most qualified layer in any community. Those belonging to the `non-creamy' layer may have to be rejected for lack of merit. The state may just not find enough people who are both meritorious and belong to the non-creamy layer. Only two generations have benefited from reservation. If the next generation is denied the benefit, things will head back to square one.

Udit Ranjan Soren,
Bhubaneswar

The exclusion of the creamy layer is a blow to the SCs and the STs. Even with the creamy layer staking its claim to representation, the representation of Dalits and tribals in government jobs is inadequate. The verdict has paved the way for their non-representation in state services in the long run.

V. Nantha Kumar,
Chennai

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Get more assertive on Naga front
Ending the mosquito menace
The search for a solution in war-torn Iraq
Not a dog's life catering to pets
Striking a balance
"Even other Muslims turn and look at me"
Corrections and clarifications
Protect creamy layer
Exclude it
Statue for Narayan

Copyright © 2006, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu