part of the OBC category, is a recent phenomenon." The official government classifications rarely distinguished between the Kapu sub-castes. All Kapus were classified as forming a backward caste in 1915 by the British government of the Madras Presidency, which remained in force even after the formation of Andhra Pradesh until 1956. In that year, the government of Andhra Pradesh removed Kapus from the list of backward castes. Even though various governments have since made efforts to include them again, the efforts have not been successful. In 1968, the Anantha Raman Commission set up by the Andhra Pradesh government recognised Munnuru Kapus and Turpu Kapus as backward classes, but not the Kapus as a whole. The Mandal Commission set up by the Government of India in the 1980s recommended that Kapus be included among the Other Backward Classes (OBC). But the state governments were entrusted with finalising the list of castes for the OBC category. The state commission headed by N. K. Muralidhar Rao did not recommend any change to the status of the other Kapu castes. In early 2016, the Kapus of the residual Andhra Pradesh state launched an agitation demanding the OBC status, leading to violent protests. The Indian National Congress party and the YSR Congress party have supported their demand. The then-ruling Telugu Desam Party was said to be opposed to the demand. Notable people Kurma Venkata Reddy Naidu C. K. Nayudu Vangaveeti Mohana Ranga Dasari Narayana Rao Chiranjeevi Pawan Kalyan References Citations Bibliography Further reading Telugu society Indian castes Social groups of Andhra Pradesh Agricultural castes