Union Minister Kiren Rijiju said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has reiterated his unwavering commitment to the welfare and empowerment of Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) communities. This statement came after SC/ST MPs from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) met with PM Modi on Friday to discuss the issue of reservation.
Following the meeting, PM Modi chaired a cabinet session where he firmly asserted that the concept of the creamy layer does not apply to reservations for SCs and STs. BJP MPs from both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, representing SC/ST communities, had gathered at the Parliament House to express their concerns. They submitted a memorandum regarding the recent Supreme Court ruling on the creamy layer for SCs and STs, urging that the decision should not be implemented.
Kiren Rijiju, in a post on X (formerly Twitter), said, “BJP’s SC/ST MPs met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the reservation issue. The PM reiterated his commitment and resolve for the welfare and empowerment of the SC/ST communities.”
BJP MP Prof (Dr) Sikander Kumar, speaking to ANI after the meeting on August 9, said that around 100 MPs had raised their concerns with PM Modi regarding the Supreme Court’s recent decision on SC/ST reservations. “The PM listened to all the MPs and assured us that the government will work in favor of the MPs,” he stated.
BJP MP Faggan Singh Kulaste added that the Prime Minister emphasized that the Supreme Court’s decision regarding the creamy layer within SCs and STs should not be implemented.
The Supreme Court, in a landmark ruling on August 1, ruled that states have the authority to sub-classify SCs and STs. The court also stated that the adequacy of representation must be calculated based on effective rather than quantitative representation. The majority judgment of 6:1 ruled that sub-classification within SC/ST reservations is permissible.
The judgment was delivered by a seven-judge bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, which overruled an earlier judgment in the EV Chinnaiah case that had held sub-classification as impermissible because SCs and STs form homogeneous classes.
In a dissenting opinion, Justice Bela M Trivedi disagreed with the majority ruling, arguing that sub-classification within SCs and STs should not be allowed.
The meeting with PM Modi was attended by several BJP SC/ST ministers, including Kiren Rijiju, Arjun Meghwal, L. Murugan, V. Satish, Kamlesh Paswan, Savitri Thakur, Durgadas Uikey, and Shantanu Thakur.
