I don’t know if the creamy layer concept is in force in Karnataka, but i heard recently that there are two criteria which makes you an OBC here – caste and family income. And from what I hear, fudging the former is “tough” but the latter is “easy”.
I was recently talking to a friend who belongs to a caste that qualifies to be OBC in Karnataka but from a well to do family whose income is much higher than the prescribed OBC limit. However she said that it wasn’t hard at all for her to get a certificate, with more than a few notes under a sarkari table doing the trick.
If what she says is right, it is indeed a worrying thought. Doesn’t it render the whole concept of creamy layer meaningless? If you are rich, you can actually buy yourself a caste certificate. Else you legitimately get it!
What a lot of people are calling for is to pack caste based reservations and do it on based on income instead. However, the example of my friend shows that implementation of the income bit is not exactly an easy proposition.
Extremely disturbing.