Telangana and Andhra Pradesh advance SC reservation sub-categorization

Telangana and Andhra Pradesh are taking steps to implement a sub-categorization of Scheduled Caste (SC) reservations. This follows a recent Supreme Court ruling that allows states to classify SCs and STs based on their levels of backwardness. On Tuesday, the Telangana assembly passed a bill that divides the 59 SC sub-castes into three groups. The bill allocates the 15% reservation among these groups, distributing it as 1%, 5%, and 9%. Telangana’s Chief Minister, Revanth Reddy, noted that the state cannot increase the cap beyond 15% for now. However, he mentioned that they would revisit the issue after the census in 2026. Two days later, the Andhra Pradesh assembly endorsed a report by Rajiv Ranjan Mishra, a retired IAS officer. His report also divides the 59 SC sub-castes into three groups but proposes different reservation percentages: 1%, 7.5%, and 6.5%. The assembly adopted this resolution unanimously. The report from Andhra Pradesh will be sent to the National Commission for Scheduled Castes for possible revisions. Both states are now moving forward with these changes to better address the needs of different groups within the SC community.