Income cap to be raised to Rs 8 lakh

New Delhi: With a large number of vacancies in government jobs meant for OBCs remaining unfilled for want of candidates, the government is planning to relax the “creamy layer” criterion by raising the income ceiling to Rs 8 lakh annually.

About 27 per cent of seats in government jobs and educational institutions are reserved for OBCs provided the annual income of the family is up to Rs 6 lakh. Those who earn above that are referred to as the creamy layer and are not eligible for reservation. Raising the ceiling would result in a larger pool eligible for government jobs and seats in educational institutions, a source in the social justice ministry said. At present only about 12-15 per cent of the quota gets utilised.