Judicial Commission for SC sub-categorisation recommended

The Cabinet Sub-Committee on SC sub-categorisation has decided to recommend to the State Cabinet to appoint a one-man judicial commission to study sub-classification within the Scheduled Castes (SC) reserved categories.

The decision was taken at the meeting of the Cabinet Sub-Committee, chaired by Irrigation and Civil Supplies Minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy and attended by ministers, including D. Seethakka, Ponnam Prabhakar, D. Sridhar Babu and Damodar Rajanarasimha, Chief Secretary Santhi Kumari, Advocate General A. Sudarshan Reddy and other senior officials.

The committee, which has already held three meetings on the issue, resolved to use the 2011 Census data as the basis for the sub-categorisation. Mr Uttam Kumar Reddy said the judicial commission will be the right step as the process must be legally sound and withstand judicial scrutiny.

During the meeting, the officials informed that the Advocate General has already given the draft Terms of Reference for appointing the judicial commission. It was also reported that various recruitment boards in the State, including TSPSC, TGLPRB, SCCL, MHSRB, and Transmission Corporation, have been directed to submit data on the sub-caste-wise employment of SCs. About 30% of the required data from the Finance department has already been gathered.

The committee was informed that 1,082 representations from communities, organisations and individuals regarding sub-categorisation have been received, both online and offline. Teams from the State have visited Punjab and Tamil Nadu to study the implementation of sub-classification in those States, while a visit to Haryana was postponed due to the enforcement of the model code of conduct.

Mr. Uttam Kumar Reddy said that in Punjab, the SCs are sub-classified into two two groups. While Balmikis and Mazhabi Sikhs are in one group, other 37 communities are in another group for employment. Out of 25% SC reservation, Balmikis and Mazhabi Sikhs (40% of SC population) get 12.5% and other 37 communities (60% of SC population) get 12.5% — which is 50% of SC reservation to each group.

The study team visited Tamil Nadu which provides 18% reservation for SCs in Education and Employment. There are 76 SC sub castes in Tamil Nadu.

Minister D. Seethakka emphasised the need for a time-bound process to ensure the timely completion of the sub-categorisation study. Minister Damodar Rajanarasimha suggested that the committee visit key districts to directly engage with the public and gather their opinions on sub-categorisation.

The analysis of the collected data may be assigned to reputable government organisations like the Centre for Economic and Social Studies (CESS) to ensure a thorough and impartial review.

Published - October 08, 2024 07:40 pm IST