Following the Supreme Court's green signal, Telangana will become the first State in the country to implement SC categorisation.
Telangana Irrigation and Civil Supplies Minister Uttam Kumar Reddy today announced that the State was all set to implement the SC Categorisation Act from April 14.
Chairing the final meeting of the cabinet sub-committee on SC categorisation at the Secretariat, Reddy confirmed that the Government Order outlining the modalities of the Act would be issued on Ambedkar Jayanti, and that the first copy of the GO would be handed over to Chief Minister Revanth Reddy.
With the Act coming into force on April 14 following the Supreme Court's green signal, Telangana will become the first State in the country to implement SC categorisation.
The sub-committee meeting was attended by ministers Damodar Rajanarasimha, Seethakka and Ponnam Prabhakar, retired judge Shamim Akhtar, Principal Secretary for Social Welfare N Sridhar, Secretary (Legal Affairs, Legislative Affairs and Justice) Rendla Thirupathi, and other senior officials.
The committee thoroughly reviewed the implementation guidelines based on the recommendations of the Shamim Akhtar Commission, and gave its final approval for issuing the GO.
The Act aims to rationalise the existing 15% reservation for Scheduled Castes by categorising the 59 SC sub-castes into three groups:
- Group I comprises 15 of the most disadvantaged communities, constituting 3.288% of the SC population, and is allocated 1% reservation.
- Group II includes 18 moderately benefited communities, forming 62.74% of the SC population, and is allotted 9% reservation.
- Group III consists of 26 relatively better-off communities, making up 33.963% of the SC population, and receives 5% reservation.
The Shamim Akhtar Commission, appointed in October 2024 following the Supreme Court's landmark judgment on August 1 upholding the validity of sub-classification within Scheduled Caste categories, was tasked with studying socio-economic indicators across SC sub-castes.
The commission received over 8,600 representations, and conducted a detailed analysis of population distribution, literacy levels, higher education admissions, employment trends, financial aid and political participation among the SCs. The commission's tenure was extended by a month to address concerns raised by several communities, ensuring that every voice was heard before finalising its recommendations.
Following the submission of the report, the Act was unanimously passed by the Telangana Legislative Assembly on March 18 and subsequently approved by Governor Jishnu Dev Varma, he said.
The minister credited the Congress' commitment to social justice for the passing of the Act, and said that the decision was backed by strong leadership at the national level, with Rahul Gandhi reiterating his support during the election campaign.
He reasserted that the Congress government was committed to ensuring equitable benefits without excluding any sub-group, and that no existing benefits to anyone would be diluted.
He also said that the current 15% reservation for SCs was based on the 2011 census, whereas the SC population in Telangana had since grown to approximately 17.5%. He said that the Congress government would consider increasing the total reservation once data from the 2026 census became available.