Kolkata: West Bengal’s new BJP government, led by Suvendu Adhikari, has moved to scrap the state’s OBC reservation framework and halt several minority welfare schemes introduced during the previous Mamata Banerjee administration, triggering accusations that the government is directly targeting backward classes and Muslims under the guise of legal compliance.
The decision was taken at a cabinet meeting on Monday following the withdrawal of the former Trinamool Congress government’s petition in the Supreme Court challenging the Calcutta High Court order on OBC reservations. State minister Agnimitra Paul announced that the BJP government would fully cancel the existing OBC list and constitute a fresh panel to reassess reservation eligibility across the state.
The move is expected to impact a large section of backward communities, including nearly 80 Muslim groups that had been included in the revised OBC list prepared under the previous government. Altogether, the list covered around 140 sub-categories. Although the Supreme Court had removed a stay imposed by the High Court on the revised list in July last year, the new government has now chosen to completely dismantle the reservation structure instead of defending it legally.
The cabinet also decided to discontinue religion-linked financial assistance schemes operated through the Information and Cultural Affairs Department and the Minority Affairs and Madrasah Education Department. Officials indicated that these benefits would be stopped from June 1, with a formal notification expected shortly.
In another controversial step, the government ordered a review of nearly 1.96 crore SC, ST and OBC caste certificates issued during the Trinamool regime, including certificates distributed through the “Duare Sarkar” outreach programme, claiming that fake caste certificates needed to be identified.