5 months ago
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Even arsenic the Supreme Court is proceeding matters related to Muslim communities populating West Bengal’s State OBC lists, the National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC) has present recommended to the Union authorities to exclude 35 communities from the State’s Central OBC list, astir of which are Muslim.
“This proposal was made successful continuation of the NCBC’s scrutiny of West Bengal’s OBC database successful airy of a precocious fig of Muslim communities being listed arsenic OBCs. Most of the communities successful the database of 35 recommended for exclusion are specified Muslim communities. One oregon 2 of them whitethorn beryllium non-Muslim communities,” said Hansraj Gangaram Ahir, nether whose chairpersonship the proposal was made. West Bengal is months distant from its adjacent Assembly election.
Mr. Ahir, whose tenure arsenic NCBC chairperson ended connected December 1 this year, spoke to The Hindu aft the Social Justice Ministry told Parliament this week that the Commission had tendered its proposal to the authorities to exclude 35 communities from the Central OBC database of West Bengal. Mr. Ahir, however, refused to specify the communities recommended for exclusion, saying: “That is simply a substance for the authorities to decide.”
The proposal to exclude these communities came months aft the NCBC initiated a probe into 37 communities included successful the Central OBC database of West Bengal successful 2014, conscionable up of the Lok Sabha elections. Of these, 35 were Muslim communities. Responding to nonstop questions astir the NCBC’s scrutiny of these 37 communities successful Lok Sabha, the Social Justice Ministry said connected Tuesday (December 2, 2025) that 35 communities had been recommended for exclusion from West Bengal’s Central OBC list.
The authorities said that the NCBC tendered its proposal connected the exclusions successful West Bengal successful January this year. As per the modalities of inclusion and exclusion of communities from Central OBC lists, immoderate proposal of the Commission indispensable beryllium signed by the Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson, and each Members. However, astatine the clip this proposal was tendered, the Commission had conscionable a Chairperson and 1 Member, and nary Vice-Chairperson.
The 102nd Constitution Amendment Act prescribes that erstwhile proposal has been received from the NCBC, the authorities is required to walk immoderate changes to the Central OBC lists successful Parliament truthful that the President tin notify the amended lists. Government sources told The Hindu that the Social Justice Ministry is presently successful possession of NCBC proposal for inclusion and exclusion successful Central OBC lists of 9 States.
Ever since Mr. Ahir took complaint successful December 2022, the Commission has focused connected scrutinising OBC lists successful States specified arsenic West Bengal, Karnataka, and Kerala. This began with a tract travel to West Bengal successful February 2023, pursuing which Mr. Ahir raised the contented of a “high fig of Muslim communities” successful the State OBC lists there.
The NCBC’s scrutiny of OBC lists successful Opposition-ruled States similar West Bengal and Karnataka yet besides fed the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) governmental rhetoric that the Opposition parties had been appeasing Muslims conscionable up of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
On Wednesday (December 3, 2025), BJP person Amit Malviya shared the effect of the Social Justice Ministry connected societal media, and claimed that each 35 communities recommended for exclusion were Muslim, further attacking Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee implicit her government’s “regressive politics”. Mr. Malviya argued that the Narendra Modi-led authorities astatine the Centre was “correcting decades of appeasement-driven distortions and ensuring existent societal justness based connected backwardness, not vote-bank politics”.
