Backwardness only determinant for OBC status, not religion: CM during Monsoon Session

Denying the accusation that her administration intended to provide reservations based on religion, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee informed the state Assembly on Tuesday that backwardness was the sole criterion for determining the OBC (Other Backward Class) status of individuals.

Laying the annual report of the West Bengal Commission for Backward Classes for the financial year 2024-25 in the Assembly on Tuesday, the chief minister, without naming anyone, said: “A section is trying to campaign that our government is giving reservation based on religion. This is baseless… There is no question of making the OBC list on the basis of religion.”

On Monday, the state Cabinet, headed by the CM, approved the addition of 76 castes to the Other Backward Class (OBC) category. An official stated that the existing 64 on the OBC list would see the addition of 76 castes. The West Bengal Commission for Backward Classes (WBCBC) proposed the addition of more castes to the OBC list.

On Tuesday, the CM told the House that all inclusions have been done after extensive field surveys, and on the basis of recommendations by the Commission. “We made the new list of OBC-A and OBC-B on the basis of a scientific survey conducted by the commission and included those communities that are backward. While more backward sections of people have been included under OBC-A, the less backward category come under OBC-B,” the CM said.

Referring to the 2024 order of the Calcutta High Court that struck down the OBC status of several categories in West Bengal granted since 2010 (when the Left Front was in power in the state), the CM said: “The state government appealed against the High Court order before the Supreme Court. We started working with the permission of the apex court for inclusion in the OBC list. The Supreme Court gave us three months’ time to make a fresh OBC list after a proper survey. Accordingly, the commission conducted the survey and proposed a list of including 140 communities — 49 in the OBC-A list and 91 in OBC-B. A survey of 50 communities is underway. We hope that the survey will also be concluded by the deadline set by the Supreme Court.”

She mentioned that according to the Calcutta High Court’s directive, a public notice was released for the inclusion in the OBC category in the state.

After the OBC category list was finalized, recruitment processes in different state government entities can resume, Banerjee mentioned. However, once the chief minister finished her comments, Opposition Leader Suvendu Adhikari attempted to speak, but before he could, Speaker Biman Banerjee suspended the session for one hour. In opposition, BJP MLAs began shouting slogans against the TMC administration.

“The chief minister was not ready to face questions from the Opposition. All the ruling MLAs and ministers basically fled after the OBC list was laid in the Assembly because they knew Hindus were being deprived. We will continue our fight for them,” Adhikari told mediapersons outside the Assembly.