New Delhi, Nov 13 (PTI) A meeting of the Committee on Welfare of Other Backward Classes saw some opposition members, including the Congress' Manickam Tagore, highlight difficulties being faced by OBC candidates over verification of creamy layer ceiling while joining the civil services despite clearing the exams, sources said on Wednesday.
The MPs raised the issue when officials of the Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment (Department of Social Justice and Empowerment) were briefing on the subject of "Implementation of various measures/schemes for Welfare of OBCs".
Tagore, the DMK's TR Baalu, and the Samajwadi Party's Ramashankar Rajbhar raised the issue of creamy layer being used as a roadblock for young successful candidates of the 2023 civil services examination, the sources said.
Significantly, Tagore had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in September to draw attention to the troubling issue affecting many meritorious candidates from the Other Backward Classes (OBC) who had successfully cleared the prestigious Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) civil services examination.
These candidates are currently facing significant obstacles related to the verification of their OBC Non-Creamy Layer (NCL) status, which is preventing them from joining their designated services, he had said in the letter.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Tagore said, "Why has Modi ji not raised the creamy layer income ceiling for OBCs since 2017? It's been seven years with no adjustment to account for inflation and changing economic realities. Who is betraying OBCs?"