Government on Thursday deferred a proposal by the Social Justice and Empowerment Ministry to raise the income ceiling from Rs 4.5 lakh per annum to Rs 6 lakh of the creamy layer OBC candidates applying for government jobs and admission into premier educational institutions.
Official sources said the proposal, which was placed before the Cabinet on Thursday, has been deferred by it.
The Ministry had sought a revision of the present income ceiling from Rs 4.5 lakh to Rs 6 lakh per candidate.
The revision was sought by the Ministry to ensure eligibility of more OBC candidates in higher education institutions and government jobs, the sources said.
The creamy layer income ceiling was increased from Rs 2.5 lakh to Rs 4.5 lakh in 2008, but even that could not achieve the desired result of filling the available vacancy under the OBC category.
Recently, the Ministry had sought increasing the creamy layer income ceiling to Rs 12 lakh in urban areas and Rs 9 lakh in rural areas, which too was rejected by the government.
The proposal was made keeping in mind the present inflationary trend and other factors such as the cost of living, the sources said.
Under the present arrangement, the OBC creamy layer can get reservation while seeking admission in premier educational institutions such as the IIT's and IIMs.
But the seats reserved there have remained vacant due to unavailability of candidates.
Meanwhile, aiming to address the educational needs of the students from the backward communities, the Cabinet gave its nod for a new scholarship scheme for the Scheduled Caste students.
The Post-Matric Scholarship Scheme will specifically address the students studying in standard 9th and 10th.
Besides taking care of fees, the scholarship will also address the cost of books and reading materials.