Can creamy layer in the Dalit quota be justified?

The Supreme Court last month upheld sub-classification in the quota for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. However, some judges further recommended adding creamy layer exclusions, restricting reservations to only one generation or once, making it time-bound, and adding economic criteria. A study by ActionAid in 2000 on social and economic discrimination in 11 states and another 2013 study of government institutions in eight states revealed discrimination in access to public amenities, in employment, in purchase of inputs and sale of output by farmers, and in purchases from SC-owned businesses in the transport, eateries and grocery sector.Another study of 90 SC businesses by scholar Asim Prakash revealed discrimination, Vinod Mishra’s study revealed discrimination against SCs in renting of houses in urban areas. Thus, caste discrimination is a ubiquitous phenomenon experienced by Dalit individuals irrespective of their economic background, with some variations. The studies also showed that many SC students, government employees, and entrepreneurs who faced discrimination were second-generation beneficiaries of reservation.