West Bengal Revises OBC List: 66 Classes Retained, 7% Reservation Confirmed Following Calcutta High Court Order

KalimNews, May 19, 2026, Kolkata: The Backward Classes Welfare Department of the Government of West Bengal has issued a fresh notification revising the State List of Other Backward Classes (OBC). The updated list comprises 66 classes that were originally recognized and approved up to 2009 and prior to 2010. The notification has been issued in compliance with a judgment delivered by the Division Bench of the Calcutta High Court on May 22, 2024.

According to Notification No. 945-BCW/MR-23/2026 dated May 18, 2026, the High Court, while hearing multiple related petitions (WPO 60 of 2011, WPA 22145 of 2010, WPA 8844 of 2020, WPO 1160 of 2013, and WPO 578 of 2012), upheld the inclusion of the 66 classes that existed in the State OBC list prior to 2010 for the purpose of reservation under Article 16(4) of the Constitution of India. However, the Court struck down the earlier distribution of reservation percentages that allocated 10% for OBC Category A and 7% for OBC Category B.

Following the ruling, the Court also restricted the total reservation for OBCs in the State to 7% for these 66 unaffected classes included in the State List.

In view of the above directions, the Governor has formally approved and notified that the State List of OBCs shall henceforth consist of these sixty-six (66) classes, which will be eligible for 7% reservation in services and posts under the Government of West Bengal.

The list begins with the following recognized communities: Kapali, Baishya Kapali, Kurmi, Sutradhar, Karmakar, Kumbhakar, Swarnakar, Teli (Kolu), Napit, Yogi/Nath, Goala/Gope (including Pallav Gope, Ballav Gope, Yadav Gope, Gope, Ahir and Yadav groups), Moira (Halwai)/Modak (Halwai), Barujibi, Satchasi, and Malakar, among others. It has deleted other lists approved and added after 2011

The notification brings clarity on the implementation of reservation benefits in accordance with the judicial directive and the officially recognized pre-2010 OBC classification in the state. In the recent notification the OBC reservation is also reduced from 17 per cent to 7 per cent.

The list issued by the earlier government prior to 18th May 2026 contained 140 communities like Gurung, Khas and Nepali Brahmin of Nepali Gorkha origin.and various other classes as follows.