Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday said the categorisation of 74 sub-castes as other backwards classes (OBCs) by her government was based on their socio-economic backwardness and not religious identity.

The BJP has been claiming that the government classified some sub-castes of a particular community as OBCs to ensure reservation in government jobs and admission to state-run colleges and universities for them ahead of the 2026 Assembly polls.

“The identification of OBCs is solely based on the socio-economic findings of the Backwards Classes Commission. Religion has no role here. All relevant documents and evidence have been submitted to the Assembly. I hope this puts an end to any further confusion or misinformation,” the chief minister said in the Assembly.

Mamata also said that with the addition of 74 sub-castes, the total number of sub-castes in the OBC category reached 140. Surveys to include 50 more sub-castes in the OBC category are being carried out and they could be accommodated in the list later, she said.

Out of the 140 sub-castes, 49 have been included in Category A or more backward category that enjoys 10 per cent reservation. The remaining 91 sub-castes will be in Category B which has seven per cent reservation.

The government is conducting the survey to find out which sub-castes fall in the OBC category after Calcutta High Court in May last year invalidated the inclusion of 109 sub-castes in the OBC category. The addition of sub-castes to the OBC list since 2010 was invalidated. The high court struck down the list as it found that no norms had been followed to include the sub-castes in the OBC category.

The high court order had dealt a blow to the Trinamool Congress government as it claimed that it had secured the interests of the sub-castes by including them in the
OBC category.

The BJP rejected the claims of the chief minister, saying the party would stick to its point that the majority of the sub-castes were given the benefits of the OBC reservation only because of their religious identity.

“I challenge the chief minister to lay down the list of sub-castes that were included in the OBC category. People will see how many sub-castes are Hindus and how many of them are Muslims. The case will be heard in the Supreme Court on July 15, and the BJP will be a party to that to save the interests of Hindu backward sub-castes,” Suvendu Adhikari, the leader of the Opposition, said outside
the House.

The state government has challenged in the Supreme Court the high court’s order invalidating the OBC list.