Supreme Court gets 4 new judges
New Delhi, Nov 2 : Justices Hemant Gupta, R Subhash Reddy, M R Shah and Ajay Rastogi were Friday sworn in as judges of the Supreme Court, taking its strength to 28.
The swearing in ceremony started at 10:30 am in court number 1 of the apex court and Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi administered the oath of office to the four judges.
The president had Thursday given his assent to the recommendation of the Supreme Court Collegium for elevating Gupta, Reddy, Shah and Rastogi, who were chief justices of different high courts, as apex court judges.
While Justice Gupta was the chief justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court, Justice Reddy was the Gujarat High Court's chief justice.
Justice Shah was the chief justice of the Patna High Court and Justice Rastogi was the chief justice of the Tripura High Court.
The apex court has a sanctioned strength of 31. With the elevation of these four new judges, the strength has risen from 24 to 28.
The Supreme Court collegium headed by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi and comprising its four-senior most judges, had on October 30 recommended to the Centre the names of the four for elevation as judges in the apex court.
Justice Gupta was appointed as a judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court on July 2, 2002, and on February 8, 2016, he was transferred to the Patna High Court where he was appointed as the acting chief justice on October 29, 2016.
He was appointed as the chief justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court on March 18 last year.
Justice Reddy was appointed as a judge of the Andhra Pradesh High Court on December 2, 2002. He was elevated as the chief justice of the Gujarat High Court on February 13, 2016.
Justice Shah was appointed as a judge of the Gujarat High Court on March 7, 2004, and later in August, he was sworn-in as the chief justice of the Patna High Court.
Justice Rastogi was appointed as a judge of the Rajasthan High Court in September 2004 and was elevated as chief justice of the Tripura High Court on March 1 this year.
This year, two apex court judges -- justices Lokur and Kurian Joseph -- are set to retire while Justice Sikri will demit office in March 2019.
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Telangana survey flags 89,000 child labourers, highlights caste disparities in employment
Hyderabad: A caste-based survey conducted by the Telangana government for 2024–25 has identified around 89,000 children engaged in labour across the state, with a large share belonging to Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) communities.
The findings are part of the Socio, Economic, Educational, Employment, Political and Caste (SEEEPC) Survey, which covered about 3.5 crore people across 242 caste groups. According to the report, nearly one per cent of individuals below 18 years are involved in daily wage work. While the percentage appears small, officials noted that the absolute number reflects a serious concern.
The survey found that 11 per cent of identified child labourers belong to the ST Lambadi community, while 14 per cent are from the SC Madiga community. The highest incidence was reported among the ST Kolam group, where 7.2 per cent of minors are engaged in daily wage labour.
The data also revealed wider socio-economic disparities. Nearly half of the Scheduled Caste population is dependent on daily wage work, while only around 5 per cent are employed in the private sector, compared to about 30 per cent among General Castes.
State Welfare Minister Ponnam Prabhakar said the findings show that SC and ST communities remain three times more backward than General Castes, while Backward Classes are about 2.7 times more disadvantaged.
The report further noted that, on average, 31.3 per cent of people in the 25–65 age group depend on daily wage work. Among communities, the BC-A Odde group recorded the highest share at 55 per cent. In contrast, only 2.6 per cent of OC Brahmins rely on such work.
Several SC and ST communities, including Kolam, Beda, Madiga, Koya, Gond, Yerukulas and Mala Sale, were found to have among the highest proportions of daily wage earners. On the other hand, most General Caste communities and some Backward Class groups such as Goldsmiths and BC-C Christians showed lower dependence on daily wage employment.
The survey also pointed to inequalities in access to formal employment. Communities such as OC Rajus, OC Brahmins and Kapus were found to have a higher presence in private sector jobs, with up to 27 per cent of their population employed in such roles.
