1 Jul 2026POLITY3 questions

Bengal Removes 77 Muslim Communities From OBC List, Shrinks Quota

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Article summary

West Bengal's newly elected BJP government has revoked OBC status for 77 Muslim communities that were granted such recognition during the preceding Trinamool Congress (TMC) administration, simultaneously reducing the state's OBC reservation ceiling from 10% to 7%. The move directly challenges the TMC-era policy of extending backward class benefits to Muslim communities on the basis of social and educational backwardness, a practice that had already attracted Supreme Court scrutiny. India's constitutional framework under Articles 15(4) and 16(4) permits states to identify backward classes, but the Supreme Court in Indra Sawhney v. Union of India (1992) held that religion alone cannot be the basis for OBC classification. The National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC), a constitutional body under Article 338B, has the mandate to examine inclusion and exclusion requests, making any state-level revision subject to both judicial and statutory oversight. For UPSC aspirants, this event crystallises the intersection of federalism, social justice jurisprudence, and the politics of reservation — a recurring Mains theme.

What this tests

recallTests whether you read the article and retained key facts.

applicationTests whether you can apply the concept to a new scenario.

analysisTests whether you can reason across multiple related facts.

Sample questions — answers revealed after test

POLITYRecallEasy

Q1. The 105th Constitutional Amendment (2021) was enacted primarily to address which of the following?

ATo establish the National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC) as a constitutional body under Article 338B

BTo explicitly restore the power of States and Union Territories to prepare and maintain their own OBC lists, after a Supreme Court judgment had curtailed it

CTo empower the President to notify the Central OBC list under a newly inserted Article 342A

DTo raise the constitutional ceiling on total reservations from 50% to 60% in states with exceptional backwardness

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POLITYApplicationMedium

Q2. A State government proposes to include a group of Muslim weavers in its State OBC list, citing data showing that over 80% of the community has not completed primary education and earns below the state poverty line. A petitioner challenges this inclusion solely on the ground that religion cannot be a criterion for OBC classification. Which of the following best represents the constitutional position on this challenge?

AThe challenge must succeed, because Articles 15(4) and 16(4) explicitly prohibit classification of any religious community as a backward class

BThe challenge must succeed, because the Indra Sawhney judgment held that religion, even when correlated with backwardness, can never be the basis for OBC classification

CThe challenge is unlikely to succeed if the inclusion is backed by empirical data on social and educational deprivation, since Indra Sawhney bars religion as a sole criterion, not as a correlating identity where actual backwardness is independently established

DThe challenge must succeed, because the National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC) has exclusive jurisdiction to determine whether a community qualifies as backward, and State governments cannot independently include religious communities

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POLITYAnalysisHard

Q3. Consider the following statements regarding the constitutional framework for Other Backward Classes (OBC) reservations in India: 1. Articles 15(4) and 16(4) are mandatory provisions that require the State to make reservations for socially and educationally backward classes. 2. The 102nd Constitutional Amendment (2018) inserted Article 342A, empowering the President to notify the Central OBC list, and Article 338B, establishing the NCBC as a constitutional body. 3. The Indra Sawhney judgment (1992) introduced the concept of the 'creamy layer' for OBCs and set a 50% ceiling on total reservations, subject to limited exceptions. 4. The 105th Constitutional Amendment (2021) restored States' power to maintain their own OBC lists by overturning the effect of the Supreme Court's ruling in the Maratha reservation case. Which of the above statements are correct?

A1 and 3 only

B2, 3 and 4 only

C1, 2 and 4 only

D1, 2, 3 and 4

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