The Mandal Commission's recommendations have opened a Pandora's Box in terms of a new sub class within the OBC population-The Creamy Layer. The Author has rightly pointed out that absence of appropriate economic criteria as the main reason for the large scale misuse of the reservation facility.For proof one can recall the agitation of the Gujjars for inclusion in the list of SCs. One finds that the cause for this agitation is the phenomenon of the creamy layer cornering the reservation space thru their clout in the political parties and bureaucracy. The creamy layer is a class of people with a common aim of seeking reservations in perpetuity.There is no way in which this class of people can be segregated from their parent castes without further categorising them along caste lines. Reservations, have become a tool to promote caste based divisions in the society. On the whole the logic of reservation is splittist in nature and promoting the self interest of the politicians from this class. These days it has become fashionable for some leaders to champion the cause of the OBC on a pan India basis.The effort is aimed at carving out their own pockets of influence in the votebanks The time has come when economic criteria must gain prominence even among the reservation categories. This alone will phase out the disparity in denying opportunity to the deserving among the poor.
