Police detain a protester during a "Save Reservation Foot March" (Aarakshan Bachao Padyatra) organised by Sardar Sena to protest against alleged irregularities and discrepancies in the reservation system for government recruitment, in Lucknow on Wednesday. (ANI Photo)Bihar officials cannot count the salaries or agricultural income of an applicant’s parents while determining whether they fall under the creamy layer, the General Administration Department has reiterated — a direction that comes at a time when caste reservation has become a major flashpoint in the state.In a letter to all district magistrates on September 1, GAD undersecretary Diwakar Mani said officials should not count parents’ salaries and agricultural income while determining the Rs 8 lakh annual income ceiling for the creamy layer. The clarification followed complaints received by the Bihar government.The letter said the Rs 8 lakh ceiling applies strictly to income from other sources, such as private business, rent, professional services or capital investments.“Strict compliance with the directives of the Central Government regarding the non-inclusion/non-addition of income from salary and income from agriculture of the applicant’s parents while determining annual income for issuing Non-Creamy Layer Certificates must be ensured,” the letter said, referring to the Centre’s 1994 creamy layer guidelines contained in the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT).Also Read | Led by NEET aspirant and businessman brother, protest against reservation at Jantar MantarAcknowledging complaints about erroneous determination of creamy layer or Non-Creamy Layer Certificates, the GAD undersecretary told the DMs that while caste, residence and income details are required for issuing NCL certificates, applicants need not obtain separate certificates for each first. “Instead, Non-Creamy Layer Certificates should be issued directly,” it said, adding that the NCL certificate also mentions these details and can also be “recognised as a Caste and Residence Certificate”.The clarification comes at a time when questions of access to backward-class quotas have gained renewed importance amid the debate over sub-categorisation in Bihar.Non-Creamy Layer (NCL) certificates are issued to Backward Classes (BC) and Extremely Backward Classes (EBC). The state has 36.01 per cent EBCs, including Muslims, and 27.12 per cent OBCs, according to the Bihar Caste Based Survey, 2022-23.Story continues below this adHowever, there is no official number for the creamy-layer population — those excluded from NCL status because their relevant annual income exceeds Rs 8 lakh.Of late, Bihar Leader of Opposition Tejashwi Prasad Yadav dared Scheduled Caste leaders Chirag Paswan of LJP (RV) and Jitan Ram Manjhi of HAM (S) to relinquish their quota and contest elections from non-reserved seats. Tejashwi’s statement, made last week, came amid Chirag and Manjhi sparring over sub-categorisation of SCs. While Chirag is against it, Manjhi supports it.Santosh Singh is a Senior Assistant Editor with The Indian Express since June 2008. Expertise He covers Bihar with main focus on politics, society and governance. Investigative and explanatory stories are also his forte. Singh has 25 years of experience in print journalism covering Bihar, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka. ... Read More Tags:caste reservation