The Telangana government on April 14 issued a gazette notification implementing sub-classification of Scheduled Castes into three groups, and fixing the quota of reservation for each of them within their overall reservation of 15%.The notification was issued to coincide with the birth anniversary of Dr B.R. Ambedkar, although the law, Telangana Scheduled Castes (Rationalisation of Reservations) Bill, 2025, was passed by the state legislature on March 18.The governor Jishnu Dev Varma gave his assent to the Bill on April 8.The assent was published in the Telangana Gazette with April 14 as the appointed day to go ahead with the law.The first copy of the gazette and a government order were handed over to chief minister A. Revanth Reddy by the cabinet sub-committee headed by state irrigation minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy which was tasked with preparing the roadmap for the implementation of a Supreme Court judgement in August last year. The verdict had allowed the state governments the liberty of enacting their own laws on sub-classification of the Scheduled Castes.Revanth Reddy wrote 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”.Telangana’s claim of being the first state to implement such a sub-classification runs contrary to the announcement by Haryana chief minister Nayab Singh Saini on November 14 last year about his state going ahead with the new law as allowed by the Supreme Court. Saini had told the Haryana assembly on the first day of the winter session that “the law will be implemented from 5 pm today (November 14}”.The Telangana Scheduled Castes (Rationalisation of Reservations) Act is a culmination of work by a one-man commission of inquiry headed by retired high court judge, Justice Shameem Akther, which was appointed by the cabinet sub-committee to study sub-classification within SCs.In a 200-page report to the government, the commission said it had found significant disparity among Scheduled Caste communities when it came to accessing the benefit of reservation. The commission relied on 2011 population census data to draw its conclusions.The report said the total population of Telangana was 3.50 crore, of which the population of SCs was 54.32 lakh (15.52% of total population). Out of the population of those belonging to the SC list, the strength of the unspecified population was 2.14 lakh and that of specified population 52.17 lakh. Unspecified population refers to people who did not disclose their sub-castes though they identified themselves as belonging to SC communities during census collection. The information collected by the commission pertained to 59 SC sub-castes in the state as approved by the parliament and included in the official list.Also read: Slicing the Pie: SC/ST Sub-Categorisation and Questions After the Supreme Court JudgmentMalas and MadigasWith a 32.33 lakh population, the Madiga community was predominant in numbers among the SCs across the state while the Malas with a population of 15.27 lakh made up less than half the size of the former but enjoyed the fruits of reservation on par or even more in certain cases.The report noted that there were 5.21 lakh employees in government departments, grant-in-aid institutions and public sector undertakings. The strength of SC employees among them waas 94,114 which was 18.04%. Among them, Madiga employees were 45,971 while Mala employees constituted 36,956.Between 2024 and 2025, as many 541 students of the Madiga community were admitted to the top 10 medical colleges in the state, while 3,384 students secured seats in top engineering and professional colleges between 2021 and 2024. For the same period, the employment data in medical and health services revealed there were 162 civil surgeons, 91 assistant professors, and 1,203 staff nurses among Madigas.On the other hand, as many as 557 students of Mala community were admitted to the top 10 medical colleges in the state between 2024 and 2025, while 3,034 students secured seats in top engineering and professional colleges between 2021 and 2024. Malas made 135 civil surgeons, 113 assistant professors and 857 staff nurses during the same period.The Madiga population was 61.967% of the total SC population while Malas were 29.265%. Since the population percentage of Madiga and Mala communities is 91.232 of the total SC population, the reservation issues and socio-economic-educational backwardness of SCs have boiled down to only these two communities. Between the two communities also, there has been significant disparity when it comes to securing the benefits of reservation in education and employment. There is little mention of the backwardness of the remaining 50 groups in dominant social narratives, with five or six exceptions, although they too have suffered a seven-decade social stigma.Also read: Telangana Caste Census and the End of Data OppressionThe Mala community was politically very active compared to Madigas and have enjoyed an upper hand in politics. This was seen from the election of 23 MLAs, three MLCs and four MPs of the community as against 29 MLAs and three MLCs and MPs each of Madigas between 2007 and 2024.The analysis conducted by the commission also highlighted the disparities among other SC communities.The commission recommended sub-classification of 59 sub-castes by focussing on inadequacy of representation in the services of the state, admissions into educational institutions and election to political offices. It included 15 most disadvantaged and overlooked communities in Group I and fixed 1% reservation for them.The Group II comprises 18 moderately benefitted communities, including Madigas and their sub-castes, which will get 9% reservation. Group III has 26 significantly benefited communities comprising Malas and their sub-castes which will get 5%.Solidarity versus diversityThe Vice-Chancellor of the B.R. Ambedkar Open University, Ghanta Chakrapani, told The Wire that the compartmentalisation of SCs had shifted their focus from social solidarity to caste solidarity. He regretted that some of the suggestions of the Supreme Court were ignored in sub-classifying the groups. For example, the court suggested governments consider social exclusiveness within communities as a parameter to judge backwardness. “But, this was not done,” Chakrapani said.Also, adequacy of groups to access benefits was not considered in the process, he added. The whole exercise seemed to have been done with population as the sole criteria, he said.The former Vice-Chancellor of Satavahana University, S. Mallesh, meanwhile, said it was a conscious political decision of the government to extend reservations based on population. “The process should have commenced from identifying groups that did not benefit from the existing reservation system. Unfortunately, it started from castes that benefited most,” he said.Governance and budgetThe sub-classification of SCs has thrown doors open for its implementation for economic and social security benefits too. A senior official who did not want to be named said the present legislation is sufficient to promote equity in development among various social groups within SCs.He added that 15% of the total budget of the Scheduled Caste Special Development Fund may now have to be distributed on the basis of percentages fixed for the three groups. The fund is allotted to 34 departments of the state government, thus necessitating the micro-allocation of funds, group-wise.Benefits like ‘Kalyana Laxmi’ which is a financial assistance for newly-wed brides, overseas education scholarship for youth and loans for self-employment may all have to be readjusted to fulfil new quotas.Former Bharat Rashtra Samiti MP B. Vinod Kumar recalled that the BRS government had adopted a resolution in the Telangana assembly, seeking sub-classification of SCs within months after bifurcation of the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh in 2014.The resolution read, “This House supports the policy of classification of Scheduled Castes to ensure equitable distribution of statutory benefits as per their population and their relative backwardness and resolves to request the Government of India to bring in necessary amendment to the Constitution of India to give effect to the same”.The resolution was handed over to Prime Minister Narendra Modi but there was no headway until a seven-judge constitution bench of the Supreme Court delivered the judgement in August last year.Overall, it was felt that the current system of reservation created unhealthy competition among SC communities for limited reserved opportunities. Sub-classification, many quarters feel, will alleviate this grievance by allocating resources more systematically.