Andhra CM reaffirms commitment to SC reservation sub-categorisation based on 2026 census

Amaravati, March 20 (PTI) Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Thursday informed the Assembly that the TDP-led government is committed to implementing Scheduled Castes reservation sub-categorisation district-wise based on the 2026 census.
    Addressing the House, Naidu stated that the census will be conducted in 2026 and reiterated his pre-election promise to implement district-wise sub-categorisation.
    "Once the census report is available, this government is committed to carrying out sub-categorisation based on districts," he said.
    However, he noted that he cannot recommend sub-categorisation at present, as accurate census data for the state's 26 districts is not yet available.
    Citing details from the report of the one-man commission led by Rajiv Ranjan Mishra—appointed by the Andhra Pradesh government to study and recommend sub-categorisation measures—Naidu said 59 SC communities were analysed.
    According to the report, the Relli sub-group, consisting of 12 castes, was identified as the 'most backward', followed by the Madiga sub-group with 18 castes categorised as 'backward', while the Mala sub-group, comprising 29 castes, was considered 'relatively less backward'.
    The report recommended 1 per cent reservation for the Relli sub-group (group 1), 6.5 per cent for the Madiga sub-group (group 2), and 7.5 per cent for the Mala sub-group (group 3).
    However, Naidu pointed out that the Rajiv Ranjan Commission’s recommendations are based on the 2011 census data.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)