Hundred successful civil services candidates under the OBC quota who have been disqualified.
A Chennai-based young doctor is among more than a hundred successful civil services candidates under the OBC quota who have been disqualified citing that they belong to the 'creamy layer'.
Parents of this young aspirant, who are employees of a public sector undertaking, earn more than Rs 6 lakh a year.
The Union Public Services Commission or UPSC now classifies them as part of the 'creamy layer'. Earlier, governments had not taken into account salaries and income from agriculture. They treated them as OBCs even if annual income of their parents exceeded Rs 6 lakh. This time the government is allowing reservation only to children of government employees.
The disappointed young man says, "We had to undergo lot of mental trauma. We had told our friends and families that we have cleared. Now we are not able to go out."
J Prasad, President of All India Confederation of OBC employees, added, "The government violates its own order. Don't take into account their income alone. Consider the social status. If this is the case none of the children of group D PSU employees can clear civil services."
The centre blames the previous UPA regime. However, the Minister for Personnel and Training Jitendra Prasad says the government is trying to resolve the issue. "This rule was brought by the earlier government, We are sympathetic. We would like to take everybody on board. We'll take a view on the basis of all inputs we get now," he said.
Activists say although the centre is cautious to not take the blame it may have already touched a raw nerve. The worry for many they say is will the new stand on 'creamy layer' expand to other jobs, even admission to colleges and IITs, disqualifying a lot more.