West Bengal Assembly passes OBC reservation laws, 66 communities to get 7% quota in government jobs
The West Bengal Legislative Assembly on Monday passed two bills amending the state’s OBC reservation laws, with changes that will affect reservations in government jobs and services. The amendments provide seven percent reservation for 66 OBC communities and reorganize the OBC categories in the state as per directions issued by the Calcutta High Court.The two bills are the West Bengal Backward Classes (other than Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes) (Reservation of Vacancies in Services and Posts) (Amendment) Bill, 2026 and the West Bengal Commission for Backward Classes (Amendment) Bill, 2026.A total of 186 MPs voted in favor of the bills, while 17 voted against. Six members abstained from voting. Before the vote, a section of rebel TMC MLAs led by Leader of Opposition Ritabrata Banerjee walked out of the House.Introducing the bills, Backward Class Development Minister Gourishankar Ghosh said the government was following the directions of the High Court and denied any political motive behind the amendments.“We have removed 113 classes included earlier without conducting any field survey and retained 66 sub-classes, which were included after various surveys,” Ghosh told the House.He added, “The Backward Classes Commission will conduct inquiries and if it feels that any community should be included, it can make recommendations for the state government’s consideration. The previous government had bypassed the Commission and that is why the High Court quashed the process.”The amendments formally approve the state government’s decision to provide seven percent reservation to the 66 communities that were included in the OBC list before 2010. It also allows the government, after consulting the Backward Classes Commission, to decide the percentages of reservation for different OBC categories. However, the total reservation in the state cannot exceed 50 percent.Under the amended law, the government can classify OBC communities into different categories based on their social and educational backwardness. Reservations in government services and places will be provided separately for each category.The second bill amends the West Bengal Commission for Backward Classes Act, 1993. It allows citizens to apply for inclusion in the OBC list. The Commission will review these applications and recommend whether they should be accepted. People can also file complaints about over- or under-inclusion of any community in the OBC list, after which the government will act on the Commission’s recommendations.The amendments follow the Calcutta High Court’s May 2024 judgment, which quashed the OBC status granted to 77 additional communities, mostly inducted between 2010 and 2012, calling the process illegal and unconstitutional.The court canceled around 12 lakh OBC certificates issued after 2010, but protected jobs already secured through these certificates. It also ruled that OBC certificates issued before 2010 will continue to be valid.On May 19, the state government suspended religion-based categorization and regularized the 66 communities included in the OBC list before 2010, restoring their eligibility for seven percent reservation in government jobs. Monday’s bills provide legal support for that decision.
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