New Delhi: Union Minister and Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) chief Ram Vilas Paswan on Wednesday hailed the Centre's decision to raise the 'creamy layer' income cap in the OBC category as "historic" and said it was a step towards giving "more power to the poor".


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"The LJP welcomes the decision and thanks Prime Minister Narendra Modi for constituting a commission to examine the sub-categorisation of the Other Backward Classes (OBC) in central government jobs. It is a historic step to ensure adequate representation of the extremely backwards in government jobs," he told reporters.


The Union minister of consumer affairs, food and public distribution said the decision to raise the creamy layer ceiling to Rs 8 lakh per annum from Rs 6 lakh would help a large number of OBC families.


He, however, made it clear that there was no plan to introduce a similar creamy layer bar among the scheduled castes (SCs) and scheduled tribes (STs).


The prime minister had time and again underlined his commitment to ensuring the welfare of the backward classes and this decision was a step in that direction, Paswan said.