Amid OBC uncertainty, Bengal education department keeps UG admission options open; merit list on hold till court decision
Times of India | 15 July 2025
KOLKATA: Applicants for undergraduate college seats in most of Bengal's varsities can either follow the OBC list that existed here before 2010 as of now or wait for the Supreme Court's final order on the issue.
The state higher education department has issued a notification that leaves both options open as of now to skirt the legal logjam over the OBC issue. The SC is now hearing a petition on OBC categorisation in Bengal. The centralised admission portal closes on Tuesday night but officials have already extended the deadline once and have the option of extending it again to wait for a clearer signal after the SC's next hearing.
The pre-2010 formula had 7% reservation for OBCs categorised under 66 sub-groups. The post-2010 list had 113 sub-groups - 77 from the Muslim community and 36 from Hindu - that was scrapped by the Calcutta High Court in 2024. The state has challenged this in the apex court. In the interim, it has also brought out a fresh OBC list comprising 140 sub-groups (77 Muslim, 63 Hindu sub-groups) but has increased the reservation to 17%. The HC on June 18 stayed this fresh list as well. "Everything depends on the court order. But a final decision is likely to be taken on Tuesday," a senior higher education department official said. Admissions to most of the state's varsities, like Calcutta University, Rabindra Bharati University, Burdwan University, Vidyasagar University and North Bengal University, will be impacted by this.
Admissions to depend on state's decision Admissions conducted by the West Bengal Joint Entrance Board - the West Bengal Joint Entrance Examination and the entrance test for admission to Presidency University - will also depend on the state's decision though they are not part of the centralised admission portal. Jadavpur University is following the pre-2010 7% reservation formula for the OBC category.
The online admission portal started accepting applications for undergraduate berths across 460 colleges in Bengal from June 18. Around 20 lakh applications have been submitted but the merit list cannot be prepared till a final decision is taken.