Telangana chief minister A Revanth Reddy on Thursday welcomed the Supreme Court judgement on the sub-classification of Scheduled Castes and said that his government’s efforts towards the cause have paid off. He promised that the state government will take appropriate measures to implement reservation for the Madiga and Mala sub-castes in the job notifications issued recently, and will also form an ordinance in this direction, if necessary.
A seven-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud approved sub-classification within the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe categories to provide reservation in jobs and education for the more marginalised among backward communities.
“The previous BRS government suspended Congress MLA Sampath Kumar from the House for moving an adjournment motion on SC categorisation in the assembly. Deputy chief minister Bhatti Vikramarka and Damodara Raja Narasimha sent the advocate general to the Supreme Court on December 23, 2023, who made arguments in favour of SC categorisation. Our efforts have paid off,” the CM said.
This judgement is significant for Telangana as there has been an active movement for the sub-categorisation of Dalits in the state since the early 1990s. Manda Krishna Madiga, the founder of the Madiga Reservation Porata Samithi (MRPS), has been spearheading an agitation for equitable reservation for SC sub-castes.
In its landmark judgement, the Supreme Court overruled the 2004 judgment in EV Chinnaiah vs State of Andhra Pradesh, in which it was held that Scheduled Castes formed a homogenous group and hence there could not be any sub-division among them. However, the apex court observed on Thursday that there are “unequals within the list of Scheduled Castes”.
Manda Krishna grew emotional as he welcomed the judgement. “This is a victory for all of us who have been fighting for the rights of the Madiga community for the last 30 years. We fought tirelessly for three decades and many even sacrificed their lives. Despite all the roadblocks, we received support from various political parties and the wider community,” he said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke at a meeting organised by the Madiga Reservation Porata Samithi in Hyderabad last November ahead of the Telangana assembly elections. The MRPS founder had called the PM his “big brother” and requested him to bring social justice to the Madiga community.
Manda Krishna Madiga had also met union home minister Amit Shah to submit a representation in favour of the categorisation of SCs.
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