Article Published In Vol.12 (Sept-Oct 2024)

Sub Classification & Creamy Layer of Scheduled Castes, Supreme Court Order & Repercussions

Author : Dr. M.K. Mukundan

In a landmark judgement, a seven-judge Bench of the Supreme Court on Thursday the 1st August 2024, reframed how the Scheduled Castes (SC) quota may operate by introducing a further division of the Scheduled Castes to represented castes and under-represented castes in Government jobs . This irrational judgement of division and disintegration of SCs is pronounced in a situation where the constitutional provision of reservations in government jobs is never filled to full quota since India became a sovereign republic. Instead of addressing the real cause for this inadequate representation in government jobs, the apex court with consent from government of India is trying to subclassify and disintegrate the emerging unity of Scheduled Castes, which can be seen as a political game of the ruling classes. The judgement to further classify the SC lists and the suggestion to separate the creamy layer among SCs for the very first time since reservations were introduced in the Constitution in 1950, will only help to reduce the name sake representation of Scheduled castes in governance and government jobs as well as to disintegrate an emerging unity among SCs .

Keywords: The Constitution of India, the Supreme Court of India, Reservation in appointments, Scheduled Castes (SCs), Caste hierarchy & discrimination in Hinduism, Gandhi & Ambedkar, Poona Pact, Sub classification and creamy layer among SCs