creamy layer

n. (in India) the wealthiest citizens in the lowest castes. Subjects: English, India, Employment, Money & Finance

Editorial Note: This term has come about because of discussions about assigning quotas, or reservations, for certain jobs to guarantee that they are given to individuals in groups that have been historically or traditionally discriminated against.

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Citations: 1992 Agence France-Presse (Nov. 17) (in New Delhi): The court said the “creamy layer” of the affluent among lower castes should not benefit from reservations but rejected the economic criterion in blocking the 10 percent quota Rao had set apart for the poor among upper castes. 1996 Simon Charsley Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute (Mar.) “‘Untouchable’: What is in a Name?” vol. 2, no. 1, p. 15: Though the benefits have never been so freely accessible to all “SCs” as some in India often imagine, neither are they so confined to “a creamy layer” already risen to the top from amongst the Scheduled Caste mass, as radical critics of the system content. 2006 Sunil Jain @ New Delhi Business Standard (India) (Sept. 4) “Creamy layer matters”: Though the Moily Oversight Committee on OBC reservations appears to be split on the issue of what to do with the “creamy layer,” or the well-to-do amongst the OBCs, the government is likely to stick to its decision to allow the “creamy layer” OBCs to avail themselves of reservations as well. The reason is simple. If the creamy layer, defined as those families earning more than Rs 2.5 lakh a year today, who form the top tenth of the country’s population, is not to be allowed to get OBC reservations, the OBC quotas could remain largely unfilled!

Posted 5 Sep 06 | Permalink | Tell a Friend

Reader comments:

Would it be fair to compare this to the African-American term “talented tenth”?

by Kevin Lantry 06 Sep 06, 0319 GMT

Maybe, but there’s something more formal about “creamy layer,” as it has to do with the government deciding who qualifies for reserved employment.

by Grant Barrett 06 Sep 06, 0325 GMT