The Central Information Commission (CIC) has recommended that the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) include sub-caste details in the final selection lists of the Civil Services Examination (CSE), arguing that it could improve transparency and help assess how reservation benefits are distributed within broader caste categories.

The recommendation came while the commission was hearing a second appeal under the Right to Information (RTI) Act. The appellant had sought caste-wise details of candidates selected to the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) through the 1995 UPSC Civil Services Examination.

During the hearing, the DoPT informed the commission that service allocation records are maintained only under broad social categories such as Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), and Other Backward Classes (OBC), and not at the sub-caste level. Officials also stated that records from the 1995 examination were no longer traceable.

The commission, while disposing of the appeal, noted that there was “plausible scope” for including sub-caste details in future disclosures. It observed that final lists of selected candidates and their broader categories are already available in the public domain for recent civil services examinations.

“In light of the above, the Commission recommends DoPT that the sub-caste details along with the aggregated caste categories (such as SC, ST, OBC, etc.) may be included in the final list of selected candidates of CSE to ensure transparency,” the CIC said in its order. The commission added that such disclosures could help ensure that the benefits of reservation and affirmative action policies reach a broader and more diverse range of communities within larger caste groups.

The DoPT also informed the commission that category-wise lists of candidates allocated to services from the Civil Services Examination 2017 onwards are already available on its official portal.

The recommendation comes amid wider debates around representation and equitable distribution of reservation benefits within reserved categories. While the CIC’s observation is advisory in nature and not binding, it could reignite discussions around sub-categorisation and transparency in recruitment data within India’s civil services system.