Latest news with #WestBengalCommissionforBackwardClasses
The Hindu
10-06-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
Backwardness only benchmark to decide OBC status, not religion: West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday (June 10, 2025) told the State Assembly that backwardness is the only benchmark to decide the OBC status of people. Maintaining that a disinformation campaign is continuing on social media by some quarters, she asserted that there is no connection with religion in deciding the inclusion of any person in the OBC category. Noting that the only benchmark for deciding OBC status in the State is backwardness, Ms. Banerjee said that a commission set up by the government is holding a survey on 50 new subsections for inclusion in that category. The Chief Minister said that 49 subsections have been included under the OBC-A and 91 under OBC-B categories. She said that while more backward sections of people have been included under OBC-A, the less backward people come under OBC-B. The Chief Minister addressed the House after laying the annual report of the West Bengal Commission for Backward Classes for the financial year 2024-25. Ms. Banerjee said that all inclusions have been done after extensive field surveys and on the basis of recommendations by the Commission appointed for identification of such people.
Indian Express
10-06-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
Mamata lays out new OBC list in West Bengal Assembly: ‘No question of religion-based reservations'
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, while laying out the interim report of the West Bengal Commission for Backward Classes in the state Assembly, said, 'Some people are trying to campaign that the state government is providing reservations on the basis of religion, which is baseless.' On Tuesday, she said in the Assembly, 'We made the new list of OBC-A and OBC-B on the basis of a scientific benchmark survey conducted by the Commission and included those communities who are backward. There is no question of making a list of OBC categories on the basis of religion.' Last year, the West Bengal government and other petitioners moved the Supreme Court after the Calcutta High Court, on May 22, 2024, cancelled all OBC certificates issued by the state since 2010, saying 'religion indeed appears to have been the sole criterion' for granting OBC status to 77 communities. The West Bengal government on March 18 this year informed the Supreme Court that a fresh exercise for the identification of Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in the state would be conducted, following which the Supreme Court agreed to adjourn the matter by three months and take it up in July. In the Assembly session on Tuesday, Banerjee went on, 'The Supreme Court gave us three months to make a fresh OBC list with a proper survey. Accordingly, the Commission conducted the survey and proposed a list of 140 communities. Out of that, 49 communities are in OBC-A list and 91 communities are included in OBC-B, while 50 communities are also being surveyed. We hope that survey will also be concluded within the time given by the Supreme Court.' The West Bengal Cabinet on Monday gave approval to include 76 new castes to the Other Backward Class (OBC) list. The new castes would be added to the existing 64 ethnic groups on the OBC list, an official said. The recommendations to add more castes to the OBC list were made by the West Bengal Commission for Backward Classes (WBCBC). After the Chief Minister laid the bill, Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari wanted to speak, but Speaker Biman Banerjee adjourned the house for one hour. After this, BJP MLAs started raising slogans against the state government. Adhikari claimed that the CM was 'not ready to face questions from the Opposition.' 'All MLAs and Ministers basically fled after the OBC list was laid out in the Assembly because they knew that in this list as well, Hindu communities have been deprived. We will continue our fight for them,' Adhikari said. Atri Mitra is a Special Correspondent of The Indian Express with more than 20 years of experience in reporting from West Bengal, Bihar and the North-East. He has been covering administration and political news for more than ten years and has a keen interest in political development in West Bengal. Atri holds a Master degree in Economics from Rabindrabharati University and Bachelor's degree from Calcutta University. He is also an alumnus of St. Xavier's, Kolkata and Ramakrishna Mission Asrama, Narendrapur. He started his career with leading vernacular daily the Anandabazar Patrika, and worked there for more than fifteen years. He worked as Bihar correspondent for more than three years for Anandabazar Patrika. He covered the 2009 Lok Sabha election and 2010 assembly elections. He also worked with News18-Bangla and covered the Bihar Lok Sabha election in 2019. ... Read More
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Business Standard
03-06-2025
- Business
- Business Standard
Bengal cabinet clears addition of 76 castes to OBC list, new subdivision
The cabinet also gave its nod to a proposal to make Farakka a new subdivision in Murshidabad district The cabinet on Monday approved recommendations of the West Bengal Commission for Backward Classes (WBCBC) to include 76 new castes on the list for OBC, an official said. These 76 new castes would be added to the existing 64 ethnic groups on the Other Backward Class (OBC) list in the state, he said. The cabinet also gave its nod to a proposal to make Farakka a new subdivision in Murshidabad district, he said. It was learned that the new subdivision would be constituted of Farakka, Shamsherganj, Suti-1 and Suti-2 blocks, he said. Earlier, these four blocks were part of the Jangipur subdivision. "Due to the growing population, the Jangipur subdivision authorities were facing difficulties in executing administrative work in the vast area. Hence, the decision was taken," the official told PTI. A source in Nabanna, the state secretariat, said that the council of ministers approved a decision to initiate a tendering process again to invite fresh bids for the proposed Rs 25,000-crore Tajpur deep-sea port project. The state government had, in 2023, dissolved the letter of intent (LoI) handed over to Gautam Adani-controlled Adani Ports to develop the deep-sea port, he said. "The cabinet okayed the reopening of the tender for the Tajpur deep sea port project. The necessary steps will be followed soon," the source said. During the cabinet meeting, chaired by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at the state secretariat, approval was given to create 109 contract-based posts at various administrative levels for the new subdivision, he added. Notably, Banerjee, during her recent visit to the riot-hit areas of Murshidabad district, had announced the formation of the new subdivision. On Monday, the state cabinet also approved the creation of 336 posts and filling up the vacancies in the departments of home, health, finance, law, and municipal affairs, the official added. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
News18
02-06-2025
- Business
- News18
Bengal cabinet nod for inclusion of new castes on OBC list
Agency: Kolkata, Jun 2 (PTI) The cabinet on Monday approved recommendations of the West Bengal Commission for Backward Classes (WBCBC) to include 76 new castes on the list for OBC, an official said. These 76 new castes would be added to the existing 64 ethnic groups on the Other Backward Class (OBC) list in the state, he said. The cabinet also gave its nod to a proposal to make Farakka a new subdivision in Murshidabad district, he said. It was learned that the new subdivision would be constituted of Farakka, Shamsherganj, Suti-1 and Suti-2 blocks, he said. Earlier, these four blocks were part of the Jangipur subdivision. 'Due to the growing population, the Jangipur subdivision authorities were facing difficulties in executing administrative work in the vast area. Hence, the decision was taken," the official told PTI. A source in Nabanna, the state secretariat, said that the council of ministers approved a decision to initiate a tendering process again to invite fresh bids for the proposed Rs 25,000-crore Tajpur deep-sea port project. The state government had, in 2023, dissolved the letter of intent (LoI) handed over to Gautam Adani-controlled Adani Ports to develop the deep-sea port, he said. 'The cabinet okayed the reopening of the tender for the Tajpur deep sea port project. The necessary steps will be followed soon," the source said. During the cabinet meeting, chaired by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at the state secretariat, approval was given to create 109 contract-based posts at various administrative levels for the new subdivision, he added. Notably, Banerjee, during her recent visit to the riot-hit areas of Murshidabad district, had announced the formation of the new subdivision. On Monday, the state cabinet also approved the creation of 336 posts and filling up the vacancies in the departments of home, health, finance, law, and municipal affairs, the official added. PTI SCH BDC First Published: June 03, 2025, 00:45 IST
Indian Express
02-06-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
Bengal: Cabinet nod to add 76 more castes to OBC list, make Farakka a subdivision
The West Bengal Cabinet on Monday gave approval to include 76 new castes to the Other Backward Class (OBC) list and make Murshidabad district's Farakka a new subdivision, an official said. The new castes would be added to the existing 64 ethnic groups on the OBC list, the official said. The recommendations to add more castes to the OBC list were made by the West Bengal Commission for Backward Classes (WBCBC). The new subdivision of Farakka will comprise Farakka, Shamsherganj, Suti-1 and Suti-2 blocks which earlier were part of the Jangipur subdivision. 'Due to the growing population, the Jangipur subdivision authorities were facing difficulties in executing administrative work in the vast area. Hence, the decision was taken,' the official said. During the Cabinet meeting, chaired by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at the state secretariat, approval was given to create 109 contract-based posts at various administrative levels for the new subdivision, he added. Banerjee, during her recent visit to the riot-hit areas of Murshidabad district, had announced the formation of the new subdivision. On April 12, one Harogobindo Das and his son Chandan Das were stabbed to death in their home in Shamsherganj's Jafrabad locality amid the ongoing communal unrest in the wake of the protests against the new Waqf law. A Muslim youth had also died in police firing the same day. The Cabinet also approved the creation of 336 posts and filling up the vacancies in the departments of home, health, finance, law, and municipal affairs, the official added. The CM also reprimanded Transport Minister Snehashish Chakraborty for not informing her about a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed between World Bank and State Transport Department recently. The Chief Minister's Office must give green light before any MoU or proposal is signed, she told Chakraborty. — PTI inputs
