Bengal govt identifies 140 OBC sub-groups
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Kolkata: Bengal govt will table in the assembly's monsoon session an OBC survey that has identified 140 sub-groups under this category. The state govt is also likely to retain its 17% OBC reservation.
The OBC policy was discussed at a state cabinet meeting on Monday. The two-week assembly session will begin on June 9.
Bengal govt had told the Supreme Court on March 19 that it would complete the fresh OBC survey within three months, setting a June third-week deadline. The apex court had asked the state to clarify the social and educational backwardness of these sub-groups. According to sources, the West Bengal Commission for Backward Classes engaged two independent bodies — Culture Research Institute and Bureau of Applied Economics and Statistics — to conduct the fresh survey to assess the socio-economic backwardness of the sub-groups.
The commission officials sought applications for inclusions or deletions in the survey. For it, officials took into consideration an additional 76 sub-groups. Earlier, the OBC list had 66 sub-groups, but two of them did not match the required criteria.
This total of 140 sub-groups are likely to be included in the OBC list. "The decision on the two groups will be taken later," an official said. The OBC legal gridlock for Bengal govt started with Calcutta High Court in May 2024 nullifying 12 lakh OBC certificates.
The state had challenged this in SC. The HC struck down the OBC status of several castes and said: "Religion indeed appears to have been the sole criterion for declaring these communities as OBCs.
" During the SC hearing, the Bengal govt stood by its decision to include 77 castes in the OBC list, saying that the additions were made after conducting the required elaborate three-tier process, including two surveys and a hearing by the backward classes commission. Bengal provides 17% OBC reservation, divided into two buckets — OBC A, which has 10% and 81 communities, out of which 56 are Muslim, and OBC B, which has 7% and 99 communities, out of which 41 are Muslim.
Officials said several lakh job applicants were affected as the OBC certificate was scrapped. The state govt wanted to grant new certificate on an urgent basis, so the survey was completed quickly.
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