Hyderabad — In a historic move, Telangana has become the first state in India to notify the categorisation of Scheduled Castes (SCs), following the Supreme Court’s landmark judgment upholding the constitutional validity of sub-classifying SCs and STs for equitable distribution of benefits. The Telangana government issued a gazette notification marking April 14, 2025, as the appointed day for implementing the provisions under the Telangana Scheduled Castes (Rationalisation of Reservations) Act, 2025.
The gazette was formally presented to Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy by the Cabinet sub-committee, led by Minister for Irrigation N. Uttam Kumar Reddy and co-chaired by Minister for Health C. Damodar Rajanarsimha. This move comes after extensive analysis of empirical data concerning the social, economic, educational, and political status of various SC communities.
The new framework divides the 59 SC sub-castes in the state into three categories:
Group-I includes 15 sub-castes identified as the most backward, receiving 1% reservation, despite constituting only 0.5% of the population.
Group-II comprises 18 sub-castes with marginal benefits so far, allotted 9% reservation.
Group-III includes 26 relatively better-placed sub-castes, granted 5% reservation.
According to Minister Rajanarsimha, 33 sub-castes remain in their previous categories, with only 26 sub-castes (representing 3.43% of the SC population) being reassigned.
Effective immediately, recruitment to government jobs will follow this categorisation, although the change will not affect vacancies that have already been notified.
The government has also expressed its intent to reassess and potentially enhance SC reservations following the completion of the Census 2026, ensuring policies remain grounded in updated demographic realities.
The move has been welcomed as a progressive step toward addressing historical inequities within SC communities and enabling better access to education and employment for the most disadvantaged groups.