Hyderabad: Irrigation and civil supplies minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy on Tuesday termed the passage of the SC (Rationalisation of Reservations) Bill 2025 in the Telangana Legislative Assembly as a landmark occasion.
“This is a historic day. Over the decades, SC categorisation had the support of all sections, but no structured solution was ever achieved. Under the Congress govt in Telangana, we fulfilled this long-pending demand with complete sincerity,” he said in the assembly during the discussion on the bill.
As the chairman of the cabinet sub-committee on implementing the Supreme Court’s verdict on SC categorisation, Uttam credited the Congress govt under chief minister A Revanth Reddy for fulfilling a demand that remained unaddressed in both united Andhra Pradesh and Telangana for decades. “The Congress always supported SC categorisation, with Rahul Gandhi making a clear promise on the issue during his election campaigns in the state,” he said, recalling that while previous govts passed unanimous resolutions, no concrete action was taken until now.
Reaffirming the Congress party’s historic support for SC categorisation, Uttam recalled that Rahul Gandhi campaigned alongside Madiga Reservation Porata Samiti (MRPS) leader Krishna Madiga to push for its implementation in the 2018 assembly poll campaign.
Uttam Kumar Reddy acknowledged the contributions of fellow leaders, including Damodar Rajanarsimha, D Seethakka, Sridhar Babu, Ponnam Prabhakar, and Mallu Ravi, in making SC categorisation a reality.
Uttam Kumar Reddy also highlighted the growing demand for increasing the overall SC reservation percentage. At present, SCs in Telangana have 15% reservation based on the 2011 Census. However, indicators suggest their population has reached 17.5%. “Once the 2026 Census data is available, we will increase the SC reservation percentage proportionally. The Congress govt is committed to ensuring social justice for all SC groups,” he assured.
