WestBengal: In a sweeping move, the West Bengal government has asked the state’s district magistrates to conduct an extensive administrative audit of all the caste certificates that have been issued to 1.69 crore individuals belonging to SC/ST/OBC communities since 2011. This decision was arrived at after growing complaints and allegations from various quarters about the distribution of caste certificates to ineligible applicants over the years.
Genuinity of the mass-issued certificates seriously questioned
The government order, signed by the Secretary of the Backward Classes Welfare (BCW) department on Thursday, pointedly mentions the growing concerns within the government regarding the validity of the database maintained by the department for caste-wise categorisation.
“You are aware that around 1.69 crore caste certificates have been issued since 2011… Now, it has been observed that the authenticity and genuineness of some Caste Certificates issued since 2011 have been challenged by different quarters,” said the order.
The district magistrates have been asked to inform all Sub-Divisional Officers (SDOs)—the authority issuing caste certificates—about this directive.
Rush for ‘Duare Sarkar’ and incomplete verification
As per insider accounts, there was a rush to distribute the said certificates prior to the West Bengal Assembly polls held in early 2021. Post the introduction of the Duare Sarkar (Government at Your Doorstep) scheme towards the latter half of 2020, it is claimed that the usual verification process was overlooked to dispose of pending applications at once.
“Using the metrics provided by the BCW department, it is estimated that around 47.8 lakh caste certificates have been distributed based on applications received through the localised ‘Duare Sarkar’ camps,” a state source noted. Of these, the following categories were distributed in the following numbers:
- SC certificates: 32.51 lakh
- OBC certificates: 8.64 lakh
- ST certificates: 6.65 lakh
“Allegations of providing certificates to undeserving candidates were rampant after the senior leadership of the administration instructed the SDOs to grant caste certificates based on the ‘Duare Sarkar’ applications in haste,” a state official elaborated. Due to the lack of proper inspection and field verifications owing to the massive administrative pressure from Nabanna (State Secretariat), many ineligible applicants managed to obtain a legal caste identity.
‘The Domino Effect’ of quota dilution among the ‘second-generation’
Over the ensuing years, the situation took a turn for the worse, as the administration started verifying the “second generation” caste certificates that provided automatic reserved status to dependents without any scrutiny whatsoever. This practice created great concern in the state’s SC/ST/OBC communities, which feared that the presence of thousands of fraudulent certificate holders would erode their constitutionally guaranteed rights, denying them access to reservation opportunities in jobs and education.
Impact on Jungle Mahal politics and consequences for Lax SDOs
Consequently, the distribution of these certificates has changed West Bengal’s politics substantially, especially within the Jungle Mahal area where many tribes live. Thanks to this, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was able to capitalize on the resentment of the tribes against the quota dilution and win a clear majority of legislative seats in the region.
In order to combat such instances of systemic abuse, the new mandate set by the BCW department mandates several punitive measures:
Electoral roll cross-checking: Caste certificates that have been granted to persons whose names have been struck off the state electoral rolls as part of the SIR operation completed recently shall be subjected to immediate scrutiny and possible cancellation.
Personal liability: The state government has warned its bureaucrats in very strong terms that any future leniency and lack of stringent enforcement in the re-verification procedure would fix personal liability on the SDO who issued such caste certificates.
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