BC-A Communities Seek Reservation Safeguards Amid Mudiraj Reclassification Concerns

Hyderabad: Delegates from BC-A communities presented a formal memorandum to Telangana BC Welfare Advisor and former Member of Parliament V. Hanumantha Rao this week, urging him to protect their reservation entitlements.

The group met with Hanumantha Rao on Thursday to highlight the persistent social, economic, and political challenges facing BC-A communities across the state. They emphasized that despite nearly eight decades since India's independence, many of these communities continue to languish in backward conditions.

The representatives noted that BC-A classifications encompass primarily occupation-based and service-oriented castes. Over the years, traditional vocations associated with these communities have eroded significantly, pushing many households toward casual wage work and unorganized employment sectors.

Members of these communities now find employment as plumbers, masons, auto-rickshaw drivers, and sanitation workers, the delegation explained. The impact of economic globalization has been particularly severe, with traditional livelihoods linked to BC-A groups diminishing substantially. Many families have turned to street vending and informal trade as survival mechanisms.

The delegation also highlighted that the BC-A category encompasses nomadic, semi-nomadic, and communities historically dependent on begging—groups that continue to endure severe economic deprivation and social exclusion.

The representatives voiced strong opposition to reported efforts to reclassify the Mudiraj community from BC-D status into the BC-A category. They contended that such political maneuvering would undermine the interests of the 57 existing BC-A castes currently recognized in the system.

Expressing concern that this reclassification could dilute the reservation benefits available to established BC-A groups, the leaders called on the government to maintain existing category protections and prevent any expansion that might compromise their rights.