Quota for OBC

Calcutta, July 6: Chief minister Mamata Banerjee today announced that the government would introduce a bill to reserve seats for Other Backward Classes (OBC) in higher education.

“I agree with the demand to reserve seats for OBCs in higher education. I will ask higher education minister Bratya Basu to consider the issue seriously and prepare a bill. The bill should be tabled in the next session,” she said in the Assembly.

Twenty-two per cent seats in higher education in Bengal are reserved for Scheduled Caste students, while 6 per cent seats are reserved for Scheduled Tribes.

Although the chief minister did not clarify the modalities of the proposed OBC reservation, senior Writers’ officials said the state could reserve 17 per cent seats for the category in higher education.

The Assembly today passed the bill to reserve 17 per cent government jobs for the OBCs.

The previous Left government had increased the quota for OBCs from 7 per cent to 17 per cent through an executive order, but the bill did not get the governor’s assent.