Mamata: 2 to 3L to be recruited once OBC identification issue is resolved

Kolkata: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee during a session in the state Assembly, on Wednesday, stated that her administration would recruit 2 to 3 lakh individuals across different departments once the issue surrounding the identification of Other Backward Classes (OBC) is settled.

Banerjee said: “Supreme Court, on Tuesday, made an observation where nothing was said against the state government. The Apex Court also allowed us to carry out the survey. Once the case is resolved, about 2-3 lakh fresh recruitments will be done in Education, Health and also in the police department.”

The Chief Minister also criticised the Opposition for filing court cases that are delaying the state’s recruitment drives, alleging that they are attempting to obstruct the hiring process.

She urged the Opposition not to stop recruitment drives out of envy towards her. Banerjee asserted that recruitment drives by the state government could not be stopped in this manner. While attending an event at Furfura Sharif on Monday, the Chief Minister had said that an OBC related case was pending in the court and as a result, many recruitments have been stalled. “Despite lists ready, doctors and nursing staff members could not be recruited,” she had said.

Meanwhile, the Bengal government on Tuesday told the Supreme Court that the exercise for identification of OBCs in the state will be conducted afresh and completed in about three months.

A bench of Justices BR Gavai and AG Masih was hearing the petition filed by the state challenging the Calcutta High Court’s decision to quash the OBC classification of 77 communities (mostly Muslim). On August 5 last year, the Apex Court asked the state government to provide quantifiable data on social and economic backwardness of fresh castes it had included in the OBC list and on their inadequate representation in public sector jobs.

It also asked the state to file an affidavit giving details of the consultations, if any, conducted by it and the state’s backward classes panel before including 37 castes, mostly Muslim groups, in the OBC list.