UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — OBC creamy layer and the income test
Q1. The following pairs relate the year of revision of the creamy layer gross annual income ceiling for Other Backward Classes to the ceiling then prescribed by the Department of Personnel and Training:
1. 1993 — ₹1 lakh
2. 2004 — ₹2.5 lakh
3. 2013 — ₹4.5 lakh
4. 2017 — ₹8 lakh
Which of the above pairs is/are NOT correctly matched?
- 1993 — ₹1 lakh
- 2004 — ₹2.5 lakh
- 2013 — ₹4.5 lakh
- 2017 — ₹8 lakh
- A. 1 and 3
- B. 3 only
- C. 2 and 4
- D. 3 and 4
Q2. Consider the following statements comparing successive revisions of the creamy layer income ceiling for Other Backward Classes:
1. The ₹2.5 lakh ceiling adopted in 2004 took effect from 9 March 2004, whereas the ₹8 lakh ceiling took effect from 1 September 2017.
2. Unlike the 2004 revision, which was accompanied by a Cabinet decision to modify the rupee criterion in line with the Consumer Price Index every three years, the 2017 revision expressly abandoned that periodic-revision principle.
3. The ceiling fixed in 2017 has not been revised since.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- The ₹2.5 lakh ceiling adopted in 2004 took effect from 9 March 2004, whereas the ₹8 lakh ceiling took effect from 1 September 2017.
- Unlike the 2004 revision, which was accompanied by a Cabinet decision to modify the rupee criterion in line with the Consumer Price Index every three years, the 2017 revision expressly abandoned that periodic-revision principle.
- The ceiling fixed in 2017 has not been revised since.
- A. 1 only
- B. 1 and 2 only
- C. 1 and 3 only
- D. 1, 2 and 3
Q3. Which one of the following issues the Office Memoranda that prescribe, and periodically revise, the criteria for identifying the creamy layer among Other Backward Classes for reservation in central civil posts and services?
- A. The National Commission for Backward Classes under the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment
- B. The Union Public Service Commission under the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions
- C. The Department of Social Justice and Empowerment under the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment
- D. The Department of Personnel and Training under the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions
Q4. Which one of the following was the first Supreme Court decision to mandate exclusion of the creamy layer while upholding reservation for Other Backward Classes in central civil posts, and what was the strength of the Bench that decided it?
- A. M. Nagaraj v. Union of India (2006), decided by a five-judge Bench
- B. Indra Sawhney v. Union of India (1992), decided by a seven-judge Bench
- C. Indra Sawhney v. Union of India (1992), decided by a nine-judge Bench
- D. State of Punjab v. Davinder Singh (2024), decided by a seven-judge Bench
Q5. The criteria presently used to identify the creamy layer among Other Backward Classes — covering constitutional and statutory posts, service category, armed forces rank, professions, property and the income/wealth test — are set out in which one of the following?
- A. The Schedule to the National Commission for Backward Classes Act, 1993
- B. The Schedule to the Department of Personnel and Training Office Memorandum dated 13 September 2017
- C. The Schedule to the Department of Personnel and Training Office Memorandum dated 8 September 1993
- D. The Schedule to the Constitution (Ninety-third Amendment) Act, 2005
Q6. How many categories of persons or sections are enumerated in the Schedule to the Office Memorandum of 8 September 1993 for determining the creamy layer among Other Backward Classes?
- A. Four
- B. Five
- C. Six
- D. Eight
Q7. As clarified by the Supreme Court in its March 2026 ruling on creamy layer determination among Other Backward Classes, the 'income/wealth test' is best described as which one of the following?
- A. The exclusive determinant of creamy layer status, overriding in every case the status and category of the posts held by the parents
- B. A test requiring income from salary, agriculture and all other sources to be mechanically aggregated against the prescribed annual ceiling
- C. A test applicable only to the children of Group 'A' and Group 'B' officers of the Central and State Governments and of statutory bodies
- D. A supplementary criterion applied alongside the status and category of the posts held by the parents, and not the sole determinant
Q8. According to the Supreme Court's March 2026 judgment on OBC creamy layer determination, which one of the following is the principal basis on which a candidate is to be classified as belonging to the creamy layer?
- A. The aggregate gross annual income of the candidate's parents from all sources taken together
- B. The wealth held by the candidate's parents above the exemption limit prescribed under the Wealth Act
- C. The nature of the parents' employment and the category of the posts they hold
- D. The candidate's own gross annual income in the three consecutive years preceding the examination
Q9. In its application seeking clarification of the March 2026 creamy layer judgment, the Centre has identified which one of the following as the earliest year from which already-settled appointments would have to be reopened if the ruling were applied retrospectively?
- A. 2004
- B. 2008
- C. 2012
- D. 2015
Q10. The Union Government's appeals that were dismissed in the March 2026 creamy layer case had been filed against orders of which one of the following?
- A. The National Commission for Backward Classes, as affirmed by the High Court
- B. The Union Public Service Commission, as affirmed by the Central Administrative Tribunal
- C. The Department of Personnel and Training, as affirmed by the Central Administrative Tribunal
- D. The Central Administrative Tribunal, as affirmed by the High Court
Q11. The creamy layer exclusion for Other Backward Classes is a judicial gloss on which one of the following provisions of the Constitution?
- A. Article 15(4)
- B. Article 16(4)
- C. Article 335
- D. Article 340
Q12. Consider the following statements comparing the treatment of the creamy layer under OBC reservation with its treatment under Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe reservation:
1. A creamy layer exclusion was mandated for OBC reservation by the Supreme Court in 1992, whereas no corresponding income ceiling has been notified by the Centre for Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe reservation.
2. In 2024, a seven-judge Bench of the Supreme Court, while permitting States to sub-classify communities within the Scheduled Castes on the basis of empirical data, also recorded that the creamy layer principle is applicable to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
3. In February 2026, the Supreme Court disposed of petitions seeking objective criteria for excluding the creamy layer among Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, holding that framing such criteria falls exclusively within the competence of the State Governments.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- A creamy layer exclusion was mandated for OBC reservation by the Supreme Court in 1992, whereas no corresponding income ceiling has been notified by the Centre for Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe reservation.
- In 2024, a seven-judge Bench of the Supreme Court, while permitting States to sub-classify communities within the Scheduled Castes on the basis of empirical data, also recorded that the creamy layer principle is applicable to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
- In February 2026, the Supreme Court disposed of petitions seeking objective criteria for excluding the creamy layer among Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, holding that framing such criteria falls exclusively within the competence of the State Governments.
- A. 1 and 2 only
- B. 2 only
- C. 2 and 3 only
- D. 1, 2 and 3