Concern for the poor is hardly simple. It has nuances. The Narendra Modi-led government’s concern was overwhelming during 2019, the last general election year. Not only did it talk of revising upward the family income limit for other backward classes below the ‘creamy’ layer, but it also introduced a quota for an economically weaker section, that is, the poor among non-reserved categories or upper castes. The last doubtless pleased the upper castes, although critics found the EWS quota discriminatory because it excluded the scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and OBCs. It also overrode the principle of social and educational backwardness and lack of representation owing to historical injustice. But no one could object to concern for the poor. Non-creamy layer OBCs, too, must have hoped for an upward revision of their annual limit, which was Rs 8 lakh at the time: it is supposed to be revised every three years. But since concern is nuanced, the government changed its mind. Presumably, insightful ponderings for three years led to the conclusion that Rs 8 lakh was adequate for OBCs requiring reservation. Perhaps the government believes that for OBCs time stands still — that Rs 8 lakh will give them the same standard of life, the same food and the same necessities that the amount brought them in 2017, when the limit was revised last.

It may be just a coincidence that the EWS limit, also Rs 8 lakh, was challenged in court and the case is pending. That limit cannot be revised at the moment. Was the revision in the case of OBCs stalled to match the unchanged EWS limit, in case the Bharatiya Janata Party’s upper-caste voters resented what they might perceive as the OBCs’ advantage? But such a question would undermine all declarations by leaders about concern for the poor. It would also raise other unworthy suspicions. Is Mr Modi’s government thinking about improving the situation of the disenfranchised or is it just enjoying tom-toming its concern at vote-earning moments? Is caste more important to them than poverty? Does the BJP still consider the upper castes its core support and baulk from displeasing them? But such questions are unbecoming when the government has already pronounced that Rs 8 lakh is adequate for OBCs. It is almost as if it had never said that the limit needed revision.