The Division came into being in 2016 with the support from Government of Telangana, initially with the establishment of two research units, that is, the Scheduled Castes Special Development Fund Research Unit (SCSDFRU) and the Scheduled Tribes Special Development Fund Research Unit (STSDFRU). The core mandate of the Units is to study the gaps in development and well-being of SCs and STs vis-à-vis other communities and to recommend policy priorities on the basis of gap analyses. Currently isolated studies are sponsored by the Tribal Welfare Department.

The research at the Division is aimed at building dependable empirical evidence on the issues and challenges of marginalized communities so as to enable policy makers, practitioners and other stakeholders to achieve social inclusion and inclusive development. The scope of research at the Division has expanded over the years to include Backward Classes (BCs) and religious minorities.

• The Division undertakes studies on the development concerns related to SCs, STs, BCs and minorities in order to ensure that they are targeted more inclusively and the investments are prioritised in the light of the identified gaps.
• In particular the Division focuses on interdisciplinary and collaborative research on the long-term concerns of the marginalized groups.
• The Division brings out a range of publications – such as policy briefs and working papers, monographs, reports – that help to make mid-course corrections in the interventions targeted at the marginalized segments.