OBC categorization dispute delays undergraduate admissions in Bengal, merit lists on hold until Supreme Court ruling

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Undergraduate admissions across West Bengal have come to a halt as the state’s higher education department awaits the Supreme Court’s verdict on the validity of its OBC reservation lists. Applicants now face two options: use the older OBC list from before 2010 or wait for the court’s final decision, which will determine which list is legally valid.

The ongoing legal battle began after the Calcutta High Court, in 2024, invalidated the OBC list adopted in 2010, which had expanded reservations to 113 sub-groups, including a large number from the Muslim and Hindu communities. The state government has since challenged this decision in the Supreme Court.

To address this, the state introduced a revised list covering 140 sub-groups and raised OBC reservations to 17%. However, this updated list was also stayed by the High Court in June.

As a result, authorities have delayed publishing merit lists for nearly 20 lakh undergraduate applications received since June 18. Admissions to prominent universities — including Calcutta University, Burdwan University, Rabindra Bharati University, Vidyasagar University, and North Bengal University — remain suspended.

While the centralized admissions portal was initially set to close soon, officials are prepared to extend the deadline further depending on the court’s next hearing. Meanwhile, Jadavpur University has opted to continue using the pre-2010 7% reservation framework.

This legal uncertainty has also affected entrance-based admissions overseen by the West Bengal Joint Entrance Board, such as those for the state engineering entrance exam and Presidency University, even though they operate separate from the central admission system.

Overall, admissions across 460 colleges are in limbo, with final decisions expected only after judicial clarity emerges.