Now Administrative Reforms unleashed: Majority among the 74 sub-castes now dropped in West Bengal are Muslim ::::: The Notice invokes Calcutta High Court order that “struck down” the Mamata regime's move

It's bold and a necessary step. 

The Suvendu Adhikari-led West Bengal government is returning to the 2010 norms for OBC reservation in college and university admissions, scaling it down to 7 per cent from 17.

The government also revoked the Mamata administration’s act of doubling the number of sub-castes entitled to the quota.

Now, the change of guard in Bengal has led to the restoration of the OBC norms that existed in 2010, an education official said.

The backward class welfare department on Tuesday sent a notice to the universities, saying the state list of Other Backward Classes “consists of the following sixty-six (66) classes to avail 7 per cent reservation....”. 

The notice, signed by department secretary Sanjay Bansal, invokes a May 22, 2024, Calcutta High Court order that “struck down” the Mamata Banerjee government’s move to have 10 per cent reservation for OBC (Category A) and 7 per cent for OBC (Category B).  The BJP government has now scrapped Category A reservation.

Mamata’s government had challenged the high court order, obtained a stay from the Supreme Court on

July 28 last year and implemented the 17 per cent reservation.

The new government’s notice reverting to the 2010 situation comes a day after online applications began for undergraduate admissions to 460 government and

aided colleges through the state-run centralised admission portal.

The online application process for Presidency University started on Tuesday. At Jadavpur University, it will start on Wednesday.

JU vice-chancellor Chiranjib Bhattacharjee said the university would admit students based on the reservation policy outlined by the state government.

Presidency University registrar Debajyoti Konar said in a text message: “We are following the latest order of the state government relating to reservation policy in all matters of establishment and the ensuing admission process," reports 'The Telegraph.

On Monday, the new state cabinet had decided to implement the high court’s May 2024 order, days after the backward class welfare department asked the district magistrates to re-verify all caste certificates issued after 2011 by the Mamata government.

The Suvendu Adhikari government is now likely to seek the Supreme Court’s permission to withdraw its predecessor’s appeal against the high court’s May 2024 order.

A spell of drama had followed last year even after the apex court’s stay on the high court’s May 2024 order. On August 7, Justice Kaushik Chanda of Calcutta High Court passed an order requiring adherence to the 2010 OBC norms, creating fresh complications.

But on August 22, a three-judge apex court bench allowed the state government to implement the 17 per cent OBC quota, saying reservation was an executive function requiring no legislation.

“We are surprised at the high court’s reasons,” the bench said. Eventually, undergraduate admissions to government and aided colleges began on August 23 last year, over a month-and-a-half behind schedule, because of the legal tangle.

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