To Woo Back SC/ST Vote Bank, Congress To Set Up Panel To Review Creamy Layer Issue

The Congress party is focusing on regaining the support of its traditional Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) vote bank. As part of this effort, the party plans to establish a panel to review the ‘creamy layer’ issue within marginalised communities.

New Delhi:The Congress, which has been trying to woo back its traditional SC/ST vote bank, will set up a panel to review the ‘creamy layer’ issue among marginalised communities.

“A consultation panel will soon be set up over the issue. It will hold discussions with the NGOs, members of Civil Society and the state units as we want to take everyone along,” AICC SC department head Rajesh Lilothia told ETV Bharat.

The ‘creamy layer’ issue came to the limelight recently after the Supreme Court verdict, which allowed the states to create sub-classifications within the SC and ST categories for wider protection through fixed sub-quotas to the most backward communities within these categories. Before that, the SC/ST lists in the states were treated as a homogenous group, which could not be further subdivided.

There was a concern among the opposition parties that the top court order may be used by the BJP to push the idea of the creamy layer, which means denying benefits to those who have used the quota and moved socially, economically and educationally upwards in society among the SC/ST groups as well. At present, the creamy layer concept exists only for the OBC quotas.

Following the top court’s order, a high-level meeting was held at the residence of Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, a Dalit leader, which was attended by former party chiefs Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi besides other senior party functionaries to assess the implications of the verdict.

According to party insiders, the messaging was important at a time when the grand old party was trying to woo back its traditional Dalit and Tribal vote banks across the country and had benefited significantly from the efforts in the Lok Sabha polls.

Significantly, Rahul Gandhi’s “Save Constitution’ campaign, which flagged the BJP’s alleged plans to remove reservations, had made a big impact among the marginalised communities, which gave 99 out of 543 seats to the Congress, up from just 52 in 2019 and 44 in 2014.

“Removal of the SC/ST persons in the name of the creamy layer would be like an assault on them. The BJP’s agenda of ending the reservations is getting exposed now. There is untouchability in the country and we need quotas. We will keep fighting for their rights,” said Lilothia.

“The reservations had been provided to the SC/ST by the architect of Constitution BR Ambedkar. There are separate lists of SC/ST in the states and we will move forward only after making the correct estimates,” he said.

The AICC functionary further stated that if the BJP was serious about the welfare of the marginalised communities, the government could have said so on the floor of the Houses during the just concluded Parliament session.

“The BJP has been saying no one can touch reservations, but they are busy with their agenda. Despite reservations, there are few High Court and Supreme Court judges as well as top bureaucrats from the marginalised groups. Also, there is a huge backlog of reserved vacancies. In the wake of all this, how can the concept of creamy layer be brought in,” he added.