T'gana BC panel urges state govt to take steps for inclusion of 40 BC castes in Centre's OBC list

Hyderabad, Mar 4 (PTI) The Telangana Commission for Backward Classes on Wednesday urged the state Chief Secretary to take measures for the inclusion of 40 BC castes in the state in the Centre's OBC list before census exercise begins in the state.

In a letter to the Chief Secretary, the Commission's Chairman G Niranjan said 130 castes have been recognised as Backward Classes in the state.

However, the Central Government has included only 90 castes in the OBC list and has not included 40 castes.

Consequently, there is a possibility that the number of BCs in Telangana will be recorded as lower than the actual figure, he said.

"The Census in Telangana State should be initiated only after the Central Government includes these 40 castes in the OBC list," a release quoted Nirajan as saying.

Earlier, the state government and the BC Commission had requested the Centre to include the 40 castes, which are not in the OBC list, into the Central OBC list. However, no decision has been taken on this matter so far, he alleged.

Niranjan emphasised the early inclusion of 40 castes in the Central OBC list as House Listing would be conducted from May 11 to June 9, 2026 in Telangana as part of the Census programme in the state before population enumeration is undertaken. PTI SJR SJR KH