Guwahati: The Telangana Government has officially implemented the Telangana Scheduled Castes (Rationalisation of Reservations) Act 2025 on Monday, marking as the first state in India to operationalize the sub-categorization of Scheduled Castes (SCs).
The cabinet sub-committee of the state headed by Irrigation Minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy and co-chaired by Health Minister C. Damodar Rajanarsimha presented the first copy of the gazette notification with April 14, 2025, as the appointed day for categorization of Scheduled Castes (SC) into three groups, to the Chief Minister of the state A. Revanth Reddy, on Monday.
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The development follows the Supreme Court’s significant ruling on August 1, 2024, which upheld the constitutional validity of granting separate quotas for the most marginalized groups within SC and Scheduled Tribe (ST) communities.
According to the sources, the decision of categorization comes after careful consideration of the Apex Court’s verdict, extensive empirical data, and a thorough analysis of the social, economic, educational, employment, and political standing of various SC communities within the state.
The categorization of SCs has resulted in the creation of three distinct groups with allocated reservation percentages aimed at ensuring more equitable distribution of opportunities.
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Comprising 15 sub-castes, identified as the most backward, this group will receive 1% reservation. Despite constituting approximately 0.5% of the population, the government has allocated a higher 1% reservation to proactively address their educational and employment needs.
The Telangana Government has placed 18 of the 59 sub-castes, which received marginal benefits, under Group II with 9% reservation.
Further, the state has placed 26 sub-castes in relatively better places in terms of opportunities under Group III with 5% reservation.
Regarding the categorization, Telangana Health Minister Damodar Rajanarsimha clarified that 33 out of the total 59 SC sub-castes remain in their previously assigned groups, with only 26 sub-castes (representing 3.43% of the SC population) experiencing a change in categorization.
The implementation of this rationalized reservation system will immediately apply to all future government job recruitments. However, the vacancies already notified prior to this date will not be subject to this new categorization, the minister added.
Moreover, the Telangana Government has reiterated its commitment to further enhance reservations for Scheduled Castes based on the comprehensive data expected from the Census 2026.