Bengal orders re-verification of caste certificates issued by TMC government

The Bharatiya Janata Party government in West Bengal has decided to conduct a re-verification of all caste certificates issued in the state since 2011 on account of allegations of large-scale irregularities during the tenure of the previous Trinamool Congress regime, PTI quoted an official as saying on Friday.

The official added that the State Backward Classes Welfare Department on Friday issued letters to district magistrates across the state directing them to begin the re-verification process. The order will cover about 1.6 crore certificates issued over the past 15 years, The Times of India reported.

Of these, about 1 crore are Scheduled Caste certificates, 21 lakh Scheduled Tribe certificates and 48 lakh Other Backward Classes, according to the newspaper.

The order on Friday said that the “authenticity and genuineness” of several certificates had been challenged by various quarters. The re-verification of the caste certificates will be carried out by the respective issuing authorities as per the prevailing norms, the newspaper quoted the order as saying.

Any certificate found to have been issued improperly will invite legal repercussions and strict action, it added.

State Tribal Development and Backward Classes Welfare Minister Kshudiram Tudu told PTI that several fake and irregular SC, ST and OBC certificates had been issued during the previous TMC government.

Earlier, the minister had also said that...

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