Bengal cabinet clears addition of 76 castes to OBC list, new subdivision

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The cabinet on Monday approved recommendations of the West Bengal Commission for Backward Classes (WBCBC) to include 76 new castes on the list for OBC, an official said.

These 76 new castes would be added to the existing 64 ethnic groups on the Other Backward Class (OBC) list in the state, he said.

The cabinet also gave its nod to a proposal to make Farakka a new subdivision in Murshidabad district, he said.

It was learned that the new subdivision would be constituted of Farakka, Shamsherganj, Suti-1 and Suti-2 blocks, he said.

Earlier, these four blocks were part of the Jangipur subdivision.

"Due to the growing population, the Jangipur subdivision authorities were facing difficulties in executing administrative work in the vast area.

Hence, the decision was taken," the official told PTI.

A source in Nabanna, the state secretariat, said that the council of ministers approved a decision to initiate a tendering process again to invite fresh bids for the proposed Rs 25,000-crore Tajpur deep-sea port project.

The state government had, in 2023, dissolved the letter of intent (LoI) handed over to Gautam Adani-controlled Adani Ports to develop the deep-sea port, he said.

"The cabinet okayed the reopening of the tender for the Tajpur deep sea port project. The necessary steps will be followed soon," the source said.

During the cabinet meeting, chaired by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at the state secretariat, approval was given to create 109 contract-based posts at various administrative levels for the new subdivision, he added.

Notably, Banerjee, during her recent visit to the riot-hit areas of Murshidabad district, had announced the formation of the new subdivision.

On Monday, the state cabinet also approved the creation of 336 posts and filling up the vacancies in the departments of home, health, finance, law, and municipal affairs, the official added.