Kolkata: The ongoing impasse over the Other Backward Classes (OBC) reservation in the state may delay the publication of the West Bengal Joint Entrance Examination (WBJEE) results, officials from the state Joint Entrance Examination Board (WBJEEB) have indicated.
The WBJEE not only assigns overall ranks to successful candidates but also issues category-wise rankings. These category-specific ranks are crucial as they determine admissions under reserved quotas in colleges and universities across the state. However, uncertainty over the reservation policy has emerged after the Calcutta High Court, in May 2024, struck down the OBC status of 77 communities in the state. The state government has challenged the verdict in the Supreme Court, where the matter remains sub judice. A hearing is expected in July. As a result, admissions to undergraduate courses in government and state-aided institutions have already been held up. The WBJEE, which facilitates admissions to engineering & technology, pharmacy, and architecture courses across the state, has now been drawn into the issue.
“We have already written to the state Higher Education department seeking clarity on the OBC reservation norms for admissions to courses under our purview,” a WBJEEB official said. “We are awaiting a response from them, as we need to publish results category-wise. Although there is no problem with preparing the results, we will not be able to proceed with publishing them until the reservation policy is clarified.”
This year’s WBJEE was conducted on April 27 across 303 centres, with 1,01,679 candidates appearing for the exam. The uncertainty could also affect other entrance tests conducted by the WBJEEB. The Presidency University Bachelor Degree Entrance Test (PUBDET-2025) is scheduled for June 21 and 22, while the JENPAS(UG)-2025, the common entrance test for nursing and other paramedical undergraduate courses, is set to take place on Sunday, May 25. The results of these exams and the admission processes following them, could be affected if the reservation issue remains unresolved.