Telangana is all set to implement the SC Categorisation Act from April 14 (Monday), Irrigation and Civil Supplies Minister Capt. N. Uttam Kumar Reddy announced on Sunday.
Chairing the final meeting of the Cabinet Sub-Committee on SC Categorisation at the Secretariat, Uttam confirmed that the GO outlining the modalities of the Act will be issued on Ambedkar Jayanthi. The first copy of the GO will be handed over to Chief Minister Revanth Reddy.
With the Act coming into force on April 14, Telangana becomes the first state in the country to implement SC sub-categorisation after the Supreme Court’s nod.
The Sub-Committee meeting was attended by Vice Chairman and Minister Damodar Raja Narasimha, Ministers Seethakka and Ponnam Prabhakar, retired judge Justice Shamim Akhtar who headed the one-man commission, Social Welfare Principal Secretary Sridhar, Law Secretary Tirupati and other senior officials.
The committee thoroughly reviewed the implementation guidelines based on the recommendations of the Justice 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 59 SC sub-castes into three groups based on backwardness.
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%.
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, was tasked with studying the socio-economic indicators of all 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.
Uttam said the Congress government under Chief Minister Revanth Reddy had delivered on a decades-old demand that was never fulfilled in United Andhra Pradesh or in Telangana.
The Act was unanimously passed by the Telangana Assembly on March 18 and subsequently approved by Governor Jishnu Dev Varma.
The Cabinet Sub-Committee also rejected the Commission’s recommendation to introduce a creamy layer within the SC category. Uttam clarified that the government is committed to ensuring equitable benefits without excluding any sub-group based on economic criteria. He assured that no existing benefits would be diluted and that categorisation is designed to ensure fairness.
He also noted that the current 15% reservation for SCs is based on the 2011 Census, whereas the SC population in Telangana has since grown to approximately 17.5%. He said the Congress government would consider increasing reservations once data from the 2026 Census becomes available.
