Mamata restores OBC quota to 17%; Muslim groups rise to 80; BJP slams 'appeasement' bid

KOLKATA: Bengal's caller OBC list, tabled by authorities govt successful the assembly connected Tuesday, has insignificant changes compared to the erstwhile list. While the earlier list, struck down by the Calcutta High Court, had 113 OBC subgroups with 77 Muslim and 36 others, the caller OBC database has 140 subgroups, 80 of them Muslim.Supreme Court is proceeding a situation by Bengal govt against the HC scrapping of the earlier list, impacting astir 5 lakh OBC certificates. The authorities had told the SC that it would implicit its caller OBC survey by the extremity of June. The survey tabled connected Tuesday besides indicated that authorities is proceeding representations from 50 much OBC groups.The percent of Muslims successful the caller OBC database is 57.1. While determination are 73.4% Muslims successful the OBC ‘A' class (in a full of 49 subgroups, 36 are Muslims and 13 non-Muslims), OBC ‘B' has 48.3% Muslims (there are 91 subgroups, of which 44 are Muslims, and 47 are non-Muslims).The HC ruling had reduced 17% OBC reservations successful the authorities to 7%. The study tabled connected Tuesday allows Bengal govt to reconstruct OBC preservation to 17%, allocating 7% for OBC ‘A' and 10% for OBC ‘B'. This is acceptable to summation somewhat with 50 further groups being evaluated.The ineligible deadlock connected the OBC contented had an overriding interaction successful Bengal, from pausing admissions to schools, colleges and universities to authorities govt recruitments.

CM Mamata Banerjee, speaking successful the assembly connected Tuesday, had said that the issuance of OBC certificates for assemblage admissions and govt jobs would resume immediately. "Many recruitment boards kept the process connected clasp owed to the ineligible confusion. That volition present beryllium resolved," Banerjee had said, adding, "Backwardness, not religion, was the sole criterion successful the caller OBC survey."On Tuesday, Bengal person of absorption Suvendu Adhikari had alleged that the OBC database was flawed and stemmed from "appeasement politics".

He said that determination were lone 11 Muslim groups retired of 66 OBC groups earlier 2010. Adhikari went connected to assertion that OBC successful Bengal meant ‘one-sided beneficiary'.Questioning Adhikari's facts, Trinamool Congress had said successful a connection connected Tuesday: "Suvendu Adhikari, we each cognize that ‘divide and rule' is the authoritative argumentation of BJP, and your lone docket for the 2026 elections is to pit Hindus against Muslims. But CM Mamata Banerjee has made it crystal wide that backwardness, not religion, is the sole criterion for OBC status. The caller database was prepared with that rule successful mind.

So halt misleading the radical with your lies."