Hello Vishnu,

It is the rank based on the category you have applied to. It specifies where you stand among the students under your category. For example, you might have an overall rank in 10k but if you have applied under some category let’s say OBC, then you might obtain a category rank of 1k which determines the position among the students of your category.  For competitive exams like NEET, JEE, CET, GATE, etc there are students who apply from general category, SC/ST, OBC, NT, other reserved minority students. This rank is necessary for the allocation of reserved seats.

For any further queries, you can revert back.

All the best!