West Bengal regularises 66 communities in OBC list under 7% reservation in jobs and services

In a major administrative decision that could significantly reshape caste and reservation dynamics in West Bengal, the state government on Tuesday regularised 66 communities.

That were part of the Other Backward Classes (OBC) list before 2010. The move comes shortly after the government scrapped the earlier OBC list and reworked the reservation framework.

With the latest notification issued by the Backward Classes Welfare Department, these communities—many of them Muslim and several long recognised in the state’s earlier classification—will now be eligible for inclusion under the revised 7 per cent quota for OBCs in government jobs and services.

The list includes a wide range of social and occupational groups such as Kapali, Kurmi, Nai (Napit), Tanti, Dhanuk, Kasai, Khandait, Turha, Paharia Muslim, Devanga, and Hajjam (Muslim), among others. The notification also extends eligibility to individuals who converted from Scheduled Castes to Christianity and their descendants.

COMPLIANCE WITH COURT ORDER

The decision has been taken in compliance with a May 2024 order of the Calcutta High Court, which struck down the inclusion of several communities in the state’s OBC list, terming the process legally invalid.

The court had also invalidated the earlier classification system that divided OBCs into Category A (more backward classes) and Category B (backward classes), which provided 10 per cent and 7 per cent reservation respectively. Following the judgment, the overall OBC quota in the state has effectively been capped at 7 per cent.

POLITICAL AND SOCIAL IMPACT

The state government has said the move is intended to ensure legal compliance, transparency, and continuity of reservation benefits for eligible groups under the court’s direction.

However, policy experts believe the reclassification could have wider political and social implications, potentially intensifying competition within OBC groups and reshaping the state’s broader reservation structure. Analysts also suggest it may prompt further legal and administrative revisions as West Bengal works toward a more durable framework for backward class recognition and benefits.