Major Policy Shift In Bengal, No More Welfare Funds For Imams, Temple Priests

The Bengal government under Suvendu Adhikari has come up with a number of key decisions in the first meeting of the state cabinet held today. The two most important include discontinuation of government assistance to groups based on religious categorisation from June and scrapping the state’s existing list of Other Backward Classes following an order from the Calcutta High Court. “A panel will be set up to decide quota eligibility,” said minister Agnimitra Paul.

Schemes being implemented under religious categorisation by the departments of Information and Cultural Affairs and Minority Affairs and Madrasa Education will continue till the end of this month. These will be stopped from June. Notifications in this regard would be issued separately, Paul added.

The decision to discontinue these schemes therefore represents a major policy reversal. The state government maintains that welfare programmes should not be based on religious identity.
(updated on 18th may 2026)