Panel: ₹8 lakh limit includes all family income

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03.01.2022

Answering the court’s questions on justification of the ₹8 lakh limit, the committee said, “The annual household income distribution of qualified EWS candidates for NEET-UG and JEE (Mains) for 2020 reveals that a mere 9 % and 8 . % of EWS candidates were found to be in the income bracket ₹5-8 lakhs, respectively. Inother words, most selected candidates who got the benefit of EWS reservation had annual family income lower than ₹5 lakh. That is whythe committee hascome to the conclusion that the existing annual income criteria of ₹8 lakh is not over-inclusive. ”

The government said it has accepted the Ajay Bhushan Pandey committee report, which recommended continuance of ₹8 lakh income limit with riders after a detailed analysis of the criteria. The committee differentiated it from the income criteria adopted to disentitle creamy layer among OBCs for quotas. The committee, comprising former finance secretary Pandey, Prof VKMalhotra of ICSSR and principal economic adviser to the government Sanjeev Sanyal, was set up on November 30 and submitted its report to the government on December 31. The committee said the “EWS may, however exclude, irrespective of income, a person whose family has 5 acres of agricultural land and above (included in the 2019 criteria which was challenged in SC). ”

The change from the 2019 EWS norms would be exclusion of residential assets criteria which was found to be difficult to collate and verify and a compliance burden. The residential asset criteria had drawn serious objections from the SC on the ground that the value of a residential asset varies substantially between urban and r ural areas.

The Centre had set up the committee to revisit 2019 EWS criteria after an SCbench headed by Justices D Y Chandra- chud on October 7 remarked, “Economic backwardness is a realistic thing. There is no doubt about it as people don’t have moneyto purchase books, to even have food. But as far as the EWS is concerned, they are forward class and there is no social or educational backwardness among them. So can you apply the same yardstick of ₹8 lakh limit for the creamy layer to the EWS? 

With regard to the EWS we are not dealing with social, educational backwardness. What was the basis of fixing the limit or have you lifted the criteria for the creamy layer and put it for EWS. ” The committee has pointed out that the ₹8 lakh limit includes all family income, including from agriculture sources making the exercise stricter than in case of OBC q uotas.

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₹8L cap for EWS may affect OBC ‘creamy layer’

New Delhi:The central government’s strong defence against lowering ₹8 lakh income cap for the EWS eligibility may help it avert a backlash from the upper castes — who are the overwhelming beneficiaries of this quota — but in the process, it has take a stance that is likelyto a dversely affect its moves on crucial dimensions of OBC “ creamy layer”.

Faced with the prospect of making the EWS income cap more rigid, the ministry of social justice has showed the contrast between the ₹8 lakh for EWS and the same limit as OBC creamy layer cap, and arguing that the former is much morestrict. It hasspeltout that the family size for which the income is calculated for EWS is much bigger, and “income” includes “salaries” and “agricultural income”, while in case of OBCs, the “income” does not include “salaries and agri income”, r eports Subodh Ghildiyal

Retain ₹8 lakh EWS cap for admissions, suggests panel

Will Tweak Other Criteria Next Year: Govt To SC

New Delhi: The committee set up to evaluate the ₹8 lakh income limit for economically weaker section candidates in admissions to educational institutions recommended retention of the qualifying mark and the Centre informed the Supreme Court that it accepts the reasoning. This development may set in motion the resumption of the counselling process for the NEET-PG seats that is currently held up.

The Centre on Sunday told the Supreme Court that it would stick to the ₹8 lakh annual income limit criteria that entitles EWS candidates to a 10% reservation in ad- missions to educational institutions, including medical colleges, and government jobs, but promised to tweak other EWS-related criteria a bit from next year.

The committee advised implementation of its recommendations from next year, which would mean the EWS quota admissions for medical admissions for the present academic year, which is yet to be completed, would be on the basis of the 2019 criteria. “The existing system, which is going on since 2019, if disturbed at the end or fag-end of the process would create more complications than expected both for the beneficiaries as well as for the authorities,” the committee said. › Family income,