OBC Creamy Layer

What is Creamy Layer?

• Creamy Layer refers to the socially and educationally advanced sections among OBCs who are excluded from the benefit of OBC reservation.
• The concept originated from the Supreme Court’s Indra Sawhney judgment (1992), which upheld OBC reservation but directed exclusion of the creamy layer.
• The detailed criteria were subsequently laid down through the DoPT Office Memorandum of 8 September 1993.

Current Income Criterion

• The income ceiling for the Income/Wealth Test was raised from ₹6 lakh to ₹8 lakh per annum with effect from 1 September 2017.
• Important: ₹8 lakh is the income criterion under Category VI; creamy-layer determination is not simply an ₹8-lakh income test. Other status-based criteria also exist.
• As of February 2026, the Government stated that the latest revision remains the 2017 revision to ₹8 lakh, with no proposal then under consideration for a further revision.

Current Affairs Update — 2026

• The issue remains under discussion because the NCBC and Parliamentary Committee on Welfare of OBCs have recommended increasing the ₹8-lakh ceiling. However, the Government stated in February 2026 that no proposal for further revision was under consideration at that time.
• A significant recent issue concerns determining creamy-layer status for children of employees of PSUs/private-sector organisations, with the Centre seeking time in the Supreme Court in August 2026 to frame criteria.

Important Committees/Commissions  

Mandal Commission (Second Backward Classes Commission), 1979

·         Chaired by B.P. Mandal.

·         Recommended 27% reservation for OBCs in Central Government services.

·         It did not itself formulate the present Creamy Layer criteria.

Ram Nandan Prasad Committee, 1993

·         Constituted by the Government to identify the socially advanced sections among OBCs to be excluded from reservation benefits.

·         Its recommendations formed the basis for the Creamy Layer criteria notified by the Government in 1993.

·         Prelims point: Remember Ram Nandan Prasad Committee → identification/exclusion of Creamy Layer.

Justice G. Rohini Commission, 2017

·         Constituted to examine sub-categorisation within the Central List of OBCs.

·         Its focus was equitable distribution of OBC reservation benefits, not fixing the Creamy Layer income ceiling.

Trap: Rohini Commission ≠ Creamy Layer Committee.

UPSC Prelims Questions

Q1. With reference to the OBC Creamy Layer, consider the following statements:

1. The concept of Creamy Layer originated from the Indra Sawhney judgment.
2. The current income ceiling under the Income/Wealth Test is ₹8 lakh per annum.
3. Creamy Layer determination is based exclusively on the annual income of the parents.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 and 2 only
(b) 2 and 3 only
(c) 1 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3

Answer: (a) 1 and 2 only

Explanation: The Creamy Layer concept emerged from Indra Sawhney. The income ceiling under Category VI is ₹8 lakh. However, determination is not exclusively based on income; the framework also contains status-based categories.