
Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led cabinet today resolved an issue pending for 24 years on the determination of equivalence of posts in government and posts in PSUs, PSBs for claiming benefit of OBC reservations.
In PSUs, all executive level posts such as board level executives and managerial level posts would be treated as equivalent to group 'A' posts in Government. This will be considered Creamy Layer.
There are six categories specified for identifying Creamy Layer (a) Constitutional/Statutory post (b) Group 'A' and Group 'B' Officers of Central and State Governments, employees of PSUs and Statutory bodies, universities, (c) Colonel and above in armed forces and equivalent in paramilitary forces (d) professionals like Doctors, Lawyers, Management Consultants, Engineers etc. (e) Property owners with agricultural holdings or vacant land and/or buildings and (f) income/wealth tax asessee.
The said parameters would apply to officers holding equivalent or comparable posts in PSUs, banks, insurance organizations, universities, etc.
Junior Management Grade Scale-1 and above of Public Sector Banks, Financial Institutions (FIs) and Public Sector Insurance Corporations (PSIC) will be treated as equivalent to Group 'A' in the Government of India and considered as Creamy Layer.
For clerks and peons in PSBs, FIs and PSICs, the Income Test as revised from time to time will be applicable. These are the broad guidelines and each individual Bank, PSU, Insurance Company would place the matter before their respective board to identify individual posts.
The main aim behind the equivalence of posts is to ensure that the children of those serving in lower categories in PSUs and other institutions can get the benefit of OBC reservations, on par with children of people serving in lower categories in Government.
Those employees with Rs 8 lakh per annum will be excluded from the Other Backward Classes (OBCs). This amount was earlier Rs 6 lakh per annum. The income limit has been increased as per the increase in the Consumer Price Index.
The Government has already introduced in Parliament, a bill to provide Constitutional status to the National Commission for Backward Classes.
It has also decided to set up a Commission, under section 340 of the Constitution, to sub categorize the OBCs, so that the more backward among the OBC communities can also access the benefits of reservation for educational institutions and government jobs.