Opinion - Letters to the Editor   

Creamy layer

This refers to the UPA government’s decision to raise the annual income ceiling from Rs.2.5 lakh to Rs.4.5 lakh for the creamy layer among the OBCs.

Reservation was introduced with the objective of uplifting the backward sections. Are people with an annual income of Rs.2.5 lakh and above backward? Such a quota system will not only affect the ever-neglected general community but also those OBCs who lose out to the better off within their own community.

V. Premnath,

Chennai The government’s decision makes a mockery of the principle of affirmative action, which seeks to empower the weaker sections. There must be something wrong with our political leadership that considers families with an annual income of up to Rs.4.5 lakh backward.

Our leaders have converted the reservation policy into an instrument for furthering their vote bank. They have not only succeeded in removing merit from education and jobs but also legitimised OBC elitism.

J.S. Acharya,

Hyderabad There are backward and forward sections within a caste that enjoys reservation. Likewise, there are backward and forward classes in castes that do not enjoy reservation. There is, therefore, no justification in denying reservation to the backward among them. A majority of the population enjoys the benefits of reservation. But many people do not need it. The irony is that opportunities are transferred to those who do not need them. The stand that this is social justice is ridiculous.

Sijo V. Mathew,

Kottayam How can a country prosper when merit is forced to take the back seat and those who score less marks capture the seats in topmost institutes and offices of the country? When it comes to reservation, all politicians lose their voice because of the fear of losing their vote bank. Sudarshan Goyal,

Patiala When so many poor in the forward community are struggling for one square meal a day, extending the benefit of reservation to those who earn Rs.4.5 lakh per annum is akin to robbing Peter to pay Paul.

N. Ramachandran,

Chennai The government’s decision implies that those with an income of up to Rs.4.5 lakh per annum are economically backward or just self-sufficient. They need the government’s support for getting jobs and admissions to educational institutions. When this has been accepted as the benchmark for defining economic backwardness, the same logic should be applied for the purpose of tax. Income up to Rs.4.5 lakh should be exempted from tax.

C. S. Viswanathan,

Chennai

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

Stories in this Section

Coping with the crisis
Labour pains
Of bailouts, public sell-outs and media cop outs
Corrections and Clarifications
Economic orthodoxy was built on superstition
New charges on shipping could help climate
China’s manned space programme marches ahead
Singur aftermath
Creamy layer

Copyright © 2008, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu