india

Updated: Jul 02, 2019 20:24 IST

The West Bengal government on Tuesday approved 10 per cent reservation in government jobs and educational institutions for the economically weaker sections (EWS), six months after the Centre introduced a similar quota.

All three opposition parties – the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Congress welcomed the decision of the Mamata Banerjee government but expressed concerns over the process of identifying the potential beneficiaries.

“It’s a historic decision. There are many factors to define someone who belongs to the economically weaker section. These details will be mentioned in the government order that will be issued soon,” said parliamentary affairs and education minister Partha Chatterjee, who is also the secretary general of the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC).

Backward classes welfare minister Rajib Banerjee said that the reservation is for the people from the general classes.

“Reservation for the SCs, STs and OBCs remain as they were. This new quota is for those outside the three specified categories,” Banerjee said.

West Bengal was one of the states that had not implemented the 10% reservation for the EWS introduced by the Centre in January this year. BJP-ruled states were quick to adopt the reservation with Gujarat being the first to do so on January 13.

The Congress government in Madhya Pradesh approved 10 per cent reservation for the economically weaker section (EWS) of the general category in jobs and education last month.

Bengal presently has 45% reservation for those belonging to the Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe and Other Backward Classes (OBC) categories – 22% for SC, 6% of ST and 17% OBC.

Manoj Tigga, the leader of BJP in the state Assembly, however, criticised the Mamata Banerjee government for ‘waking up late’.

“The Centre has already introduced it. If the state had not delayed, job and education aspirants from this category from Bengal would have been able to take the benefits of the Centre’s move earlier this year in getting admission in school and colleges. While it is good to see that the state is following the Centre’s footsteps, we have concerns whether corruption will mar the process of identifying the beneficiaries,” Tigga said.

Abdul Mannan, the leader of the opposition in the state Assembly, welcomed the move, so did Communist Party of India (Marxist)’s Sujan Chakraborty, the Left leader in the state legislature.

“Years of struggle finally yielded results. We are happy, but have raised concerns over the process of identification. We want a foolproof system to ensure that only deserving ones are identified as beneficiaries,” Mannan said.

Economist Abhirup Sarkar, while welcoming the move, cautioned that identifying the beneficiaries could be a problem.

“It will be good for the society, given that the identification of the beneficiaries is done properly,” Sarkar said.