Telangana Becomes First State To Implement Sub-Categorisation Of Scheduled Castes, Divides Reservation Benefits Into Three Groups

Telangana became the first state to formally implement the sub-categorisation of communities within the Scheduled Castes (SC) list for reservation benefits, after the Supreme Court order last year.

The Telangana Scheduled Caste (Rationalisation of Reservation) Act 2025 was enacted on Monday (14 April), coinciding with the 134th birth anniversary of Dr B R Ambedkar, the strongest advocate of reservations.

This signifies a notable progression in tackling the disparities within the Scheduled Caste (SC) community that exist on an intra-caste level. The Supreme Court had affirmed the authority of states to establish individual quotas within the SC category.

The recently implemented legislation segregates the current 15 per cent reservation for Scheduled Castes into three separate categories, each determined by population and socio-economic factors.

A reservation of 1 per cent has been allocated to 15 castes, which represents 3.2 per cent of the SC population, in Group 1. A reservation of 9 per cent is allocated to 18 castes, which account for 62.74 per cent of the SC population, in Group 2. A reservation of 5 per cent is allocated for 26 castes, which represents 33.96 per cent of the Scheduled Caste population, under Group 3.

The day the Supreme Court made its decision, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy promised in the state assembly that Telangana would be at the forefront of legislating sub-categorisation in the nation. In line with his promise, the government took swift and unprecedented action.

A sub-committee within the Cabinet, led by the Minister of Irrigation and Civil Supplies, N Uttam Kumar Reddy, was recently formed. The committee subsequently suggested the establishment of a single-person commission led by Justice Shameem Akhtar to guarantee the proposed legislation's legality and constitutional integrity.

The Telangana Scheduled Caste (Rationalisation of Reservation) Act was the result of thorough discussions by the committee, and it was passed during the recently concluded Budget Session on 17 March 2025.

Following its passage, the Governor gave his approval on 8 April, leading to its official recognition as Act No. 15 of 2025 in the Telangana Gazette. On the 14 April, the Cabinet Sub-Committee members submitted the Government Order (GO) to the Chief Minister, thereby finalising the procedure for implementation.