Khammam slips to 7th spot in ST population in Telangana state

HYDERABAD: The reorganisation of districts has left Khammam way behind Bhadradri-Kothagudem in terms of the population percentage of STs compared to the overall population in the district.
Khammam, which had the maximum number of tribal population in the 23 districts of the then undivided Andhra Pradesh, has now relegated to seventh position among the 31 districts in Telangana.
Displacing Khammam, Mahabubabad has emerged as the top district accounting for a 37.8 per cent of tribals of the total population followed by Bhadradri-Kothagudem, Adilabad, Kumaram Bheem-Asifabad, Jayashankar-Bhupalpalli and Warangal Rural.Interestingly, Karimnagar was second from the bottom after Hyderabad as the district with the least ST population.
Officials said Hyderabad has 1.24 per cent of ST population, and Karimnagar has 1.27 per cent. "Medchal or Ranga Reddy districts have more tribes than Karimnagar. This is because almost the entire urban areas are part of Karimnagar district," officials said.
Likewise, the equations of districts have changed even in terms of SC population after the reorganisation. Mancherial district tops the list in Scheduled Caste population with 24.72 per cent followed by Nagarkurnool with 21.32 per cent and Jangoan with 21.15 per cent.
Planning department special chief secretary B P Acharya said they were also mapping the health, education, per capita income status of the SCs and STs in the state so that the government could implement its development plans in a better way for these two communities.