The school service commission is taking legal opinion on whether the Bengal government’s decision to implement the 2010 OBC reservation norms — reducing the quota from 17% to 7% — will apply to teacher recruitment.
A notification issued by the backward classes welfare department on May 18 said the 7% reservation for 66 classes would apply to “posts and services under the Bengal government”.
SSC sources said the commission had been following a 17% reservation — 10% for OBC-A and 7% for OBC-B — covering 140 classes and sub-castes during the ongoing recruitment of assistant teachers.
“The department, in another notification issued on May 18, withdrew all previous notifications approving the 17% OBC reservation during the Mamata Banerjee government’s tenure. In this situation, the commission has decided to seek legal opinion on the applicability of the new notification,” an SSC source said.
The notification stated: “The governor is hereby pleased to withdraw, with immediate effect, the following notification issued by the department…”
The SSC has already recommended around 3,500 higher secondary teachers (Classes XI and XII) for appointment in government-aided schools under the reservation norms that included the 17% OBC quota.
Although no appointments have yet been recommended for the secondary level (Classes IX and X), the 17% reservation was used while shortlisting candidates for posts, an education department official said.
The Trinamool government had initiated the recruitment process after a gap of nearly a decade following the termination of 17,209 teachers in April 2025. The teachers lost their jobs after courts found irregularities in the 2016 recruitment process.
The SSC conducted fresh tests in September 2025 to fill the vacancies. Counselling for higher secondary appointments began in January for 12,514 posts. The SSC also has to recruit 25,314 teachers at the secondary level. On December 18, the Supreme Court granted the SSC more time and directed that the hiring process be completed by August 31, 2026.
An education department official said the SSC had proceeded with the 17% reservation after the Supreme Court, in August last year, stayed a Calcutta High Court order reducing OBC reservation to 7%. The SSC had then provided applicants with an “edit” option to upload caste category details.
The BJP government’s decision to implement the 7% reservation has again created uncertainty.
Rakesh Alam, who has been called for document verification before interviews for secondary-level recruitment, said he was unsure whether the process would proceed. Alam is among the 15,403 terminated untainted teachers who cleared the fresh test in September.
“The government has gone back to the 7% reservation and revoked the earlier notifications approving 17% reservation. We uploaded our caste category details according to the earlier norms. Our future has become uncertain again,” he said.