On Monday, the Congress-led government in Telangana officially issued a gazette notification implementing the sub-categorisation of Scheduled Castes, commonly known as “reservation within the reservation.” As per the notification, SCs in the state will now be grouped into three categories – Group I, II, and III. Under the Scheduled Castes (Rationalisation of Reservation) Act, 2025, Group I will receive 1 per cent of the total 15 per cent SC quota, Group II will get 9 per cent, and Group III will be allotted 5 per cent. Group I includes 15 castes considered the most socio-economically backwards, Group II has 18 castes, and Group III comprises 26 castes.

With this move, Telangana has become the first state in India to implement such a sub-categorisation of SCs. This step follows a recent decision by a seven-judge Constitution Bench that permitted further classification within SC and ST groups to better support the most disadvantaged among them.

Per the Gazette notification, the Act received the governor’s approval on April 8. The notification stated, “The said assent is hereby published on April 14, 2025, in the Telangana Gazette for general information. From this moment (of the issue of the gazette), SC categorisation will be implemented in Telangana for employment and education. We have issued a Gazette and government order to this effect. The first copy of the gazette was given to the Chief Minister, A Revanth Reddy,” Telangana Minister Uttam Kumar Reddy, who led the Cabinet sub-committee on SC sub-categorisation, stated while mentioning, “If the population of SCs go up in the 2026 census, we will give reservation as per their population”.

Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy posted on X, “Telangana is the first state in India to implement the revolutionary decision of SC sub-categorisation. We are all proud to have made history. On the highly auspicious day of the birth anniversary of Bharat Ratna Babasaheb Dr B R Ambedkar, the Telangana state government paid the best tribute by bringing into force a great act of social justice, addressing a long overdue demand for classification of SC sub-castes." He further noted, “Empowering and ensuring opportunities for all sections of Dalits, the state government issued a gazette notification, whose first copy was handed over to me today by the committee that undertook the historic work.”

The sub-categorisation of Scheduled Castes (SCs) has been challenging for the Congress government due to strong resistance from the Malas, a sub-caste within the SC community that has consistently opposed the move. On the other hand, the Madigas in Telangana have been pushing for this sub-division for the past 30 years.