New Delhi: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday informed the state Assembly that “backwardness” is the only benchmark to decide the OBC status of people during the state assembly session. She added that disinformation is being spread on social media by some people by connecting religion with the OBC reservation.
The CM mentioned that the only thing the OBC reservation would be based on is the “backwardness” of a particular class. To ensure the proper inclusion, she said that the commission has been set up by the state government to survey 50 new sub-sections in that category. Forty-nine sub-sections have been included under the OBC-A and 91 under the OBC-B categories.
The more backwards section of people has been added to the section of OBC-A, while the section of population that is comparatively less backwards has been added to the OBC-B category. The chief minister addressed the House after laying the annual report of the West Bengal Commission for Backwards Classes for the financial year 2024-25.
Although the Chief Minister claims that the report was made after conducting extensive field surveys and on the basis of recommendations by the commission, there has been widespread controversy regarding the inclusion.
BJP lashes out at Mamata
BJP claims that Mamata has been partial to the Hindu section of West Bengal. Except for the two to four groups in OBC-A, all the subsections comprise Muslims. On X, Mamata is being called “Hinduphobic”. There are 179 OBC communities in West Bengal, of which 118 include the Muslims, whereas only 90 sections are reserved for Hindus.
BJP State President and Union Minister Sukanta Majumdar says, “There should be no connection between OBC and religion. Reservations for Backward Classes, SC, and ST were given because these groups faced oppression based on caste. The way Mamata Banerjee has created OBC-A and OBC-B categories, and through OBC-A she has included Muslims—except for 2-4 groups, she has placed almost all Muslims under the OBC category…”
Admission halts at universities amid reservations
Government and government-aided colleges and universities have halted their admissions despite the state cabinet approving a new formula for OBC reservation in education and jobs. These institutions are waiting for a go-ahead from the state government to begin the admission process. Several private institutes have already closed their admission windows.
The English department’s board of studies passed a resolution on Monday demanding that the admission process be started immediately without further delay. “The BOS (Board of Studies) notes with extreme concern that, even after a month of publication of Class XII results, the admission process at the Department of English has not yet started,” the resolution stated.
“A student would naturally try to apply and close the admission process wherever possible, rather than waiting for an institution where there is no certainty about when the admission season would start,” a Jadavpur University Professor asserted.
Although institutes like Xavier’s College, St Xavier’s University, Ramakrishna Mission Residential College (Autonomous), Narendrapur, and Scottish Church College have all closed their admission windows while JU continues struggling to get government approval.
