87 castes, including 80 from the Muslim community, have been nominated for inclusion in the Central List of Other Backward Classes (OBCs) by West Bengal. To ascertain the status of these castes in British society, the National Commission of Backward Classes (NCBC) has sought data going back to the Imperial Gazetteer.

98 castes from West Bengal are now included in the Central OBC list.

NCBC statistics, they comprise 118 Muslim and 61 Hindu OBCs.

NCBC Chairman Hansraj Gangaram Ahir stated to ET that the state government has sent proposals to NCBC for the admission of 87 additional castes. The state has requested 85 additions and two adjustments. The ideas are being looked at by the Commission. We have informed the government that, out of the 87 proposals, 80 are from Muslim castes. OBCs make about 16% of the population in the state. The state OBC list contains information on 179 castes. According to NCBC statistics, they comprise 118 Muslim and 61 Hindu OBCs.

Muslim

Ahir said, "This is strange in a Hindu-majority state. In fact, we have not noticed this in any other state barring West Bengal."

According to Ahir, the Commission has now requested that the state investigate the validity of these castes in the old British India archives. "We have requested that the state investigate if any members of these castes were OBCs prior to their conversion to Islam. The state government must inform us of their position in the State OBC list, Mandal list, and Imperial Gazetteer, according to Ahir.

Anomalies in the application of West Bengal's reservation policy have been flagged by NCBC. Following a field investigation in February, NCBC discovered that immigrants from Bangladesh and Rohingya had obtained OBC certificates and used quota privileges.

According to government regulations, states must submit their suggestions to the Centre for castes to be included in the Central List of OBCs even though they have control for inclusion of castes in the State List.

JP Nadda, the head of the BJP at the national level, asserted on Tuesday that the opposition parties, particularly those in charge of state governments, just pretend to support the interests of the other backward classes (OBCs). He said that the OBCs' rights were being blatantly violated by these parties. Nadda charged that the governments of West Bengal, Rajasthan, Bihar, and Punjab have denied job chances to OBC populations. He reprimanded them for not helping OBCs in accordance with their remarks. Nadda especially referred to Bihar, where a "caste census" was conducted but failed to uphold OBC populations' rights, according Indian news agency PTI.

"The opposition government in Bihar, West Bengal, Rajasthan and Punjab are openly violating the constitutional rights of OBC. These governments have remained in favour of the caste census. These opposition parties who talk about the backward class and their rights are actually not supporting it," he was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

Nadda emphasized the 71 new castes that were added in 2011 that resulted in a considerable rise in the number of Muslim OBCs from 53 to 118. He also drew attention to inconsistencies in Rajasthan, where seven districts have been designated as tribal, and Punjab, where just 12% of OBC people receive the 25% quota. Nadda urged the NCBC to behave appropriately in these situations.

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