Ishan BhatnagarAIR 5 · CSE 2025 · 365 wordsTheir whole copy
Opening · a definition
The concept of creamy layer in SC/ST reservation posits income and asset thresholds for inclusion in reservation-based quotas.
As per the Supreme Court in Davinder Singh's case, it seeks to further substantive equality by ensuring that benefits reach the most disadvantaged first.
Body · points
Creamy layer as advancing social justice
SC/ST were legal categories imposed on an internal jati hierarchy within lower caste (Srinivas) and on differently placed tribes (Desai).
Hence, these are not uniform social categories, but rather have internal socio-economic gradation.
Access to similar opportunities leads to the creation of an elite, cornering the benefits of affirmative action.
Thus Gopal Guru documents the emergence of Dalit middle class out of benefits of affirmative action in education and public employment. Virginius Xaxa has similarly documented the emergence of a tribal elite that has disproportionate benefits, whereas PVTGs have been left behind on most developmental indicators (Dhebar Commission).
- The Supreme Court thus in Indra Sawhney's case argued that creamy layer allows us to address this internal disparity.
Limitations of the concept of creamy layer
Discrimination faced by SCs/STs is not just economic, rather it is social as well. Louis Dumont argued that the logic of purity/pollution applies irrespective of position in secular hierarchy.
Even affluent Dalits or STs may face institutional discrimination - Gopal Guru has highlighted institutionalized casterism in higher education. Similarly, North Eastern tribes face everyday racism, impeding support and integration.
Intersectional Reading - Kimberle Crenshaw argues that disadvantage is cumulative - hence, while economic disadvantage may be removed, there may be social, or region-based disadvantage.
Ignores difference between affluent SC/ST and the 'General category' - Desai & Dubey using IHDS data showed - (i) persistent educational deficit (ii) employment discrimination (iii) reduced mobility even equalizing the economic position of individuals.
Hence, Anup Surendranath has argued that an intersectional reading supports a sub-categorization based approach that allows for -
(i) prioritising the most marginalized among SCs, STs
(ii) ensuring female SC/ST representation
(iii) acknowledging differences from mainstream, upper caste society
Close · a way forward
Towards this, Tarunabh Khaitan advocates a shift from group based to individual centric affirmative action that looks at a 11-point social deprivation index to further social justice.