Scheduled Castes In T'gana To Be Sub-Classified Into Three Groups

(MENAFN- IANS) Hyderabad, Feb 5 (IANS) The one-member Judicial Commission headed by retired High Court judge Justice Shameem Akhtar has recommended sub-classification of Scheduled Castes (SCs) in Telangana into three sub-categories for equitable implementation of 15 per cent reservation.

According to the report tabled by Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy in Assembly during special session on Tuesday, 59 SC communities have been divided into three groups. The Group I comprises 15 socially, economically and educationally most backward SC communities.

As per the 2011 census, they constitute 3.288 per cent of the SC population. The Commission has recommended one per cent reservation for them.

Eighteen SC communities who have moderately benefitted are categorised as Group II. They are 62.74 of the total SC population and the Commission has recommended nine per cent reservation for them.

The Group III will have 26 SC communities who have largely benefited from reservation. They are 33.963 per cent of the SC population. The Commission recommended five per cent reservation for them.

Madiga community, whose leader Manda Krishna Madiga has been spearheading the movement for sub-categorisation of SCs for reservation, figures in Group II. Their population is 61.967 per cent in the total SC population.

The other major SC community Malas has been included in group III. Malas and Mala Ayawaru constitute 29.265 per cent of the SC population.

The Chief Minister stated in his statement in Assembly that the movement for sub-categorization of SCs had been going on for three decades.

He said the state government decided to find a permanent solution to the problem as per the judgment of the Supreme Court.

Claiming that Congress party provided opportunities to Dalits in all fields, he remarked that today is the most satisfying day in his two-decade-long political career.

“I am happy that I got this opportunity. This will be forever etched in the history,” said the Chief Minister.

Recalling that he was expelled from the Assembly for moving an adjournment motion to demand SC sub-categorisation, Revanth Reddy said as the leader of the House, he was taking a decision for implementation of sub-categorisation. He felt that this became possible "because of the Constitution drafted by Babasaheb Ambedkar".

The Judicial Commission had submitted its report to the Cabinet Sub-Committee on Monday. The Cabinet approved the report before it was tabled in the Assembly.

The Sub-Committee was constituted on September 12, 2024 with Irrigation and Civil Supplies Minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy as its chairman and Health Minister Damodar Raja Narasimha as co-chairman to implement the Supreme Court order on the sub-classification of SCs.

On the recommendation of the Cabinet Sub-Committee, the state government had constituted one-member judicial commission headed by former High Court judge Justice Shameem Akhtar in October.

The Commission assessed intra-backwardness among different castes within the SCs. It studied the judgment of the seven-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court on the sub-classification within Scheduled Castes reserved categories.

While welcoming the August 1 judgment of the Supreme Court, Chief Minister Revanth Reddy had announced in the state Assembly that Telangana would be the first state to implement it.

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