West Bengal NEET category list and reservations

The West Bengal NEET category list includes six vertical reservation groups and one horizontal reservation. WBMCC applies approximately 55% community-based reservation in state quota MBBS seats across government colleges. This figure does not include the separate ~7% government school quota, which operates outside the community-based reservation structure. The state’s reservation system has two distinctive features: SC reservation at 22%, and OBC split into two sub-categories rather than a single block.

West Bengal NEET category list and codes

A note on the OBC-A and OBC-B percentages: Published references disagree on the exact split. Most cite OBC-A at 10% and OBC-B at 7% (including mbbscouncil.com), but some report OBC-A at 8% and OBC-B at 9%. The figures above follow the more commonly cited numbers. Verify the current year’s split from the official WBMCC notification before making preference decisions.

The OBC-A and OBC-B split

Most Indian states (and the All India Quota) treat OBC as a single category with one reservation percentage. West Bengal divides OBC into two distinct sub-groups:

• OBC-A includes communities listed in the state’s OBC-A schedule (approximately 10% reservation)
• OBC-B includes communities listed in the state’s OBC-B schedule (approximately 7% reservation)

This split matters during counselling because OBC-A candidates compete only against other OBC-A candidates for OBC-A seats, and likewise for OBC-B. Your West Bengal OBC certificate will specify whether you fall under OBC-A or OBC-B. If you hold a central OBC certificate for AIQ counselling, that certificate does not distinguish between A and B; the sub-classification is only relevant for West Bengal state counselling.

How to determine your category

Your category is determined by the certificate issued by your district authority:

• UR (Unreserved): If your community is not listed in the SC, ST, OBC-A, or OBC-B schedules of West Bengal
• SC: Per the state’s Scheduled Caste list, issued by the District Magistrate or SDO
• ST: Per the state’s Scheduled Tribe list
• OBC-A or OBC-B: Per the West Bengal State OBC list, which assigns each community to either OBC-A or OBC-B. Must be non-creamy layer. The certificate must be issued by the competent authority in West Bengal
• EWS: For unreserved (General) category candidates with family annual income below the EWS threshold. The EWS certificate is separate from any community certificate

Government School quota

West Bengal reserves approximately 7% of state quota seats for students who completed their schooling entirely (or for the last 5 years) in government-run schools. This quota is separate from the community-based vertical reservations listed above; the 55% reservation figure in the opening section does not include it. The exact percentage and detailed eligibility conditions should be confirmed from the official WBMCC notification for the current year, as secondary sources vary on the specifics.

PwD reservation (horizontal)

Persons with Disability (PwD) reservation in West Bengal is 3% and operates as a horizontal reservation. This means 3% of seats within each vertical category (UR, SC, ST, OBC-A, OBC-B, EWS) are earmarked for PwD candidates. A candidate who is both SC and PwD would be counted against the SC-PwD allocation.

The PwD suffix applies to all base categories, producing combined codes like OPEN-PWD, SC-PWD, OBC-A-PWD, and OBC-B-PWD in the allotment results.

SC reservation at 22%

West Bengal’s SC reservation is 22%. For comparison, the All India Quota reserves 15% for SC, and most states fall between 15-20%. This reflects the larger Scheduled Caste population in West Bengal.

How WB categories differ from AIQ categories

If you hold both a West Bengal state OBC certificate (specifying A or B) and a central OBC certificate, you can use the state certificate for WB counselling and the central certificate for AIQ counselling. The two systems are independent.