BC-A Groups Oppose Inclusion Of Mudiraj Community
Opposition grows in Telangana as BC-A groups warn that including the Mudiraj community could dilute reservation benefits for 68 existing castes.
The proposed shift of the Mudiraj community from the BC-D to the BC-A category has triggered opposition from the 68 communities already listed under BC-A, which feared that the move would dilute reservation benefits meant for the most marginalised castes.
Representatives of the 68 castes (including various service, occupational, and nomadic/semi-nomadic tribes) argued that shifting a numerically and politically stronger community like the Mudirajs into BC-A would shrink their share of reservation benefits and educational and employment opportunities
Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy recently assured the Mudiraj community that a Cabinet sub-committee would be constituted soon to examine its demand for inclusion under the BC-A category. He said that the issue would be discussed in the next Cabinet meeting, and advice from officials and legal experts would be sought.
Gali Satyanarayana, honorary president of the Telangana Gangaputra Community Development Organisation, said the proposal would not be tolerated, arguing that the Mudiraj community was socially, economically and politically better placed than many existing BC-A communities.
He said BC-A comprised 68 service and occupational castes and nomadic tribes that continued to face severe backwardness and had not achieved comparable social, economic or political progress.
Satyanarayana pointed out that the Kalelkar, Rohini and Anantharaman Commissions, along with other expert committees, had studied the occupations and living conditions of Backward Class communities before classifying them into four categories — BC-A, BC-B, BC-C and BC-D. Any reclassification, he said, should protect the interests of the most disadvantaged groups.
The Telangana BC-A Castes Rights Protection Committee demanded that no new communities be added to BC-A until the existing 68 castes achieve adequate development. The committee's founder president, Prof M. Bagayya, said several existing communities in BC-A, particularly beggar and service castes, remain severely underdeveloped.
He alleged that some communities were seeking inclusion in BC-A for political gains, without considering the impact on existing beneficiaries. The committee urged the government and all political parties to ensure reservations for BC-A communities in proportion to their population.
The leaders warned that including relatively developed communities would dilute benefits meant for the most marginalised and threatened large-scale protests if the government ignored their concerns.