The National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC) has found that Rohingyas and illegal Bangladeshi immigrants have received Other Backward Classes (OBC) certificates in the State of West Bengal. NCBC also found that there are more Muslim OBC castes in the state compared to Hindus when the population of Hindus are more.
On Thursday (June 8), NCBC chief Hansraj Gangaram Ahir informed that 118 out of 179 castes, which have been granted OBC status in West Bengal, belong to the Muslim community. The matter came to light during field surveys conducted between February-May 2023.
“We have received several complaints stating that many from the Muslim community included in the list are immigrants from Bangladesh. We are investigating the matter, as this has been done by depriving actual beneficiaries. We have sought a detailed response from the state government,” Ahir informed.
The NCBC said, “When we visited the State in February this year, we took up the matter and questioned how there were more Muslim OBC castes than Hindu OBC castes in the State, when the absolute population of Hindus in the State is clearly higher. They did not have satisfactory replies.” He said that there was “clearly something wrong” with the State OBC list in West Bengal, and NCBC will remove communities added to the list wrongly.
He stated that the OBC list in the State is divided into two categories – A (Most Backward Class) and B (Backward Class) and that the first category is entitled to more benefits than the other.
आयोग को शिकायत मिली है कि पश्चिम बंगाल में कुछ हिन्दू समुदाय के लोग मुस्लिम बने हैं जिन्हें ओबीसी की लिस्ट में शामिल कर लिया गया है ।
— National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC) (@NCBC_INDIA) June 8, 2023
According to the NCBC chief, 73 out of the 81 communities listed in Category A are Muslims and only 8 of them are Hindus, which means over 90% of communities in the MOBC list are Muslims. In category B, more than half are Muslim communities. “We are not against Muslims getting the benefit of reservation, but such irregularity can’t be accepted,” Ahir emphasised.
He pointed out that the Commission was verbally told during the survey that several Hindu OBC communities had converted to Islam. After seeking a written explanation, the West Bengal government reportedly claimed that it is unclear how many people converted to Islam, and there is no proof that all these communities had converted from Hinduism.
“It is clear that the state has arbitrarily given non-deserving communities OBC status,” the NCBC chief emphasised. He has directed the State government to fix the discrepancies at the earliest.
Reportedly, the Commission had earlier highlighted the issue during meetings in February and May this year. The West Bengal government relies on reports published by its own wing, namely, the Cultural Research Institute (Kolkata), for the inclusion of communities in the OBC list.
Flawed reservation policy in Rajasthan, Bihar and Punjab
The Commission also found non-implementation of reservation policy in the Congress-ruled State of Rajasthan. According to it, seven districts had no individuals with OBC status although a large number of backward communities were residing in those regions.
“No caste certificates had been issued. The state was following a flawed policy in which they were taking the income of the entire family to give OBC certificates,” Ahir said. “This made several people ineligible for non-creamy layer OBC certificate,” he stated.
NCBC has also directed the AAP government in Punjab to increase OBC reservations from 12% to 25%. The Economic Times reported that a total of 37% reservation (25% for Scheduled Castes and 12% for OBC) was allotted in the State.
Since the upper limit of the reservation is 50%, the Commission has directed the Punjab government to increase the OBC quota by an additional 13%.
Similarly, the JDU-RJD-ruled State of Bihar was faced with similar anomalies when it came to the implementation of reservation norms. NCBC found that the Bihar government was including the agricultural income of Class III and Class IV employees for calculating total income.
As such, they were given non-creamy layer OBC certificates. The practice had been prevalent in the State for a span of 30 years (1993-2003). The Commission has asked the State government to make amends.
