West Bengal starts new process for Backward Classes identification

The West Bengal government is starting a new effort to identify Socially and Educationally Backward Communities (SEBC) for inclusion in its Other Backward Classes (OBC) List. This announcement was made in the Supreme Court on March 18, 2025. The state previously appealed to the Supreme Court after a Calcutta High Court ruling struck down its policy that included several Muslim communities in the OBC List. The High Court found that using religion alone to designate these communities as OBC was inappropriate and deemed it an affront to the entire Muslim community. Attorney Kapil Sibal, representing West Bengal, informed the court that the Backward Classes Commission will carry out this new identification process. The Supreme Court has scheduled another hearing for July to review the state's plan. During previous hearings, the court asked about the details of the survey used to determine the communities' social and educational status, as well as how the state consulted the Backward Classes Commission before making these designations. The High Court's ruling has affected over five lakh OBC certificates issued since 2010 but confirmed that individuals who already secured jobs with these certificates are not impacted. The ruling also nullified certain sections of the West Bengal Backward Classes Reservation Act, specifically affecting reserved percentages for previously identified sub-categories of OBCs.