Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu has taken a significant step toward addressing a long-standing social demand by deciding to extend Scheduled Caste (SC) benefits to the Budagajangam community. Speaking at a district collectors’ conference, the Chief Minister announced that while the formal inclusion into the SC list requires central approval, the state government will move forward with providing interim relief. He instructed collectors to ensure that all SC benefits, excluding government employment reservations, be extended to the community immediately.
The Budagajangams, often referred to by names like Jangamayi or Jangamadevara, lead a nomadic lifestyle across the Rayalaseema and Coastal Andhra regions. While they are already recognized as an SC community in the neighboring state of Telangana, they have faced a long struggle for similar recognition in Andhra Pradesh. Despite the AP Assembly passing resolutions three times in the past to include them in the SC category, the proposal has remained pending with the Central Government for various technical and administrative reasons.
Chief Minister Naidu assured the community that he would personally take up the matter with the Central Government to secure the necessary final approvals. In the meantime, the state’s directive aims to provide them with access to welfare schemes, educational support, and other social protections afforded to Scheduled Castes. This move follows previous attempts by the state to study the community’s status, including a one-man commission under retired IAS officer JC Sharma, and signals a renewed political will to resolve the issue.
