The West Bengal Legislative Assembly on Monday passed two bills amending the state’s Other Backward Classes reservation framework, restoring the OBC list that existed before 2010 and reducing the total OBC reservation quota from 17 per cent to 7 per cent. The amendments result in the removal of dozens of communities — the majority of them Muslim — that had been added to the state’s backward class category between 2010 and 2012.
The two bills passed are the State Backward Classes Commission (Amendment) Bill, 2026 and the West Bengal Backward Classes (Reservation of Vacancies in Services and Posts) Amendment Bill, 2026. Under the revised framework, only 66 communities remain in the state OBC category — 54 belonging to Hindu communities and 12 to Muslim communities.
How the OBC List Expanded
West Bengal’s OBC reservation framework originated with the implementation of Mandal Commission recommendations. The then Left Front government under Jyoti Basu initially identified 66 communities as backward and included them in the state’s OBC list. These communities formed the basis of the reservation structure for several years.
In 2010, the Left Front government under Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee expanded the list significantly, adding 42 new communities and raising the total to 108. The government simultaneously divided the OBC category into two sub-groups — OBC-A, entitled to 10 per cent reservation, and OBC-B, entitled to 7 per cent reservation — and announced a 10 per cent reservation for socially and educationally backward Muslim groups in state government jobs. Of the 108 communities at that stage, 53 belonged to Muslim groups.
The expansion continued after Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress government came to power in 2011. In 2012, the state government added 35 more communities to the OBC list. Together, the Left Front and Trinamool Congress additions resulted in a list that eventually covered 113 sub-groups, of which 77 belonged to Muslim communities and 36 to Hindu communities.
The Court Ruling That Implemented the Change
The expansion became a subject of prolonged legal challenge. Several petitions questioned the process by which communities had been added to the OBC list. In May 2024, the Calcutta High Court delivered a judgment striking down OBC recognition granted to 77 communities included during the 2010 and 2012 expansions, holding that the procedure followed for granting those communities OBC status did not meet legal requirements.
Legal observers noted at the time that the court’s ruling focused on procedural compliance rather than the religious identity of any particular group. “The court examined whether statutory requirements were followed before granting OBC status. The issue before the court was legality and procedure,” one legal observer said.
The ruling affected an estimated 1.2 million OBC certificates issued after 2010. However, the court protected the interests of individuals who had already secured government employment through the reservation, and certificates issued before 2010 were left undisturbed.
What the Amendments Change
By implementing the court’s direction through the two bills, the state government has formally reinstated the 66-community OBC list that predated the 2010 expansion. The OBC-A category and its associated 10 per cent reservation have been abolished. The total OBC quota stands reduced from 17 per cent to 7 per cent.
Before the amendments, West Bengal’s reservation structure provided 22 per cent for Scheduled Castes, 6 per cent for Scheduled Tribes, 10 per cent under OBC-A, 7 per cent under OBC-B, and 3 per cent for persons with disabilities. The removal of the OBC-A category reduces the overall share of reservations in the state by 10 percentage points.
Which Muslim Communities Remain
Of the 12 Muslim communities that continue to hold OBC status under the revised list, most were recognised as backward well before the 2010 expansion and are included in both state and central backward class lists. They include Jola or Julaha, associated with weaving; Fakir or Sai, linked to Sufi traditions; Rain or Kunjra, associated with vegetable trading; Nai or Hajjam, traditionally involved in barbering; Dhunia or Mansuri, associated with cotton and quilt work; Kasai or Qureshi, linked to the meat trade; and several others including Shah or Shahji, Shershahabadia, Choduli Muslim, Paharia Muslim, and Ostagar.
Among the communities removed from the list are Haldar, Muslim Sanpui, Muslim Mali, Ghosi (Muslim), Muslim Darzi, Idrisi, Muslim Rajmistri, Muslim Batiyara, and Muslim Molla and Dhali (Muslim), among others. Several of these communities continue to hold OBC recognition in other states, including Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Madhya Pradesh.
Concerns from Affected Communities
The removal of OBC status from these communities has drawn concern from Muslim organisations and community representatives. A representative of a backward Muslim organisation said, “Many students and job seekers from these communities depended on reservation opportunities. There is anxiety about what this decision means for their future.”
A community leader from Murshidabad said, “Our social condition has not changed simply because our status has changed on paper. Many people feel they are being deprived of opportunities.” Activists have called for a fresh survey to assess the social and educational conditions of affected communities before benefits are formally withdrawn.
