Backward Classes Commission notice to WB over inclusion of 87 castes in Central OBC list

 Commission says State unable to provide documents on genealogy of Hindu caste groups that had converted to other religions

Agencies, October 21, 2023, New Delhi : The National Commission for Backward Classes has now issued notice to the West Bengal government asking it to furnish all required documentation for the proposal to include 87 castes in the State to the Central List of Other Backward Classes, saying among other things, that the State had so far been unable to show documents on genealogy of Hindu caste groups that had converted to other religions.

This comes even as the Commission is in the middle of an investigation into what its Chairperson, Hansraj Gangaram Ahir, had in February called an “unusual abundance” of Muslim castes in the State’s OBC list. 

The National Commission for Backward Classes will be holding a hearing on the proposal of the West Bengal government to include 87 castes in the OBC list. In a notice to the West Bengal government, the NCBC said the hearing would be held on November 3.

The NCBC has also sought information from the state government under various heads. Among the information sought are caste-wise details of the candidates selected in the 87 OBC castes, caste-wise details of Class III, Class IV and Safai Karmacharis, details of scholarships disbursed to the students belonging to the 87 OBC castes in the educational institutions run under the state during the last three years and the current year and the caste-wise details of the beneficiaries thereof.

The NCBC said it had recommended that the reservation of OBCs in the state should be increased from 17 per cent to 22 per cent, but till date no positive action has been taken on the recommendation of the commission.