Does the caste system still exist in some parts of India?

Is the caste system still present in some parts of India?

Yes, unfortunately, it is.

In urban and urbanized parts of India, communities are much more integrated. As people study together in educational institutions, work together in their workplaces, and live less in self-contained communities, they increasingly perceive individuals from other castes as human beings, essentially similar to themselves. This empathic vision aligns with the foundational teachings of India’s wisdom texts, such as the Bhagavad-gita.

However, the caste system has, regrettably, persisted in rural areas and sometimes even in semi-rural regions due to multiple reasons.

Firstly, historically, caste was not solely a basis for discrimination; it also provided a sense of belonging and community. It allowed people to be part of a group larger than their immediate family, often with a shared vocation, similar to modern professional associations (e.g., bankers’ associations or jewelers’ associations). While the caste system is often, and rightly so, portrayed as solely discriminatory, divisive, and evil – and it has indeed been all of that at times – it also, for some, provided a sense of unity based on shared interests, values, or purposes.

Secondly, and even more unfortunately, the caste system has become highly politicized and manipulated. Vote bank politics, driven by self-interested political parties, exploit caste identity to further their pursuit of power. By demonizing other castes as having exploited specific groups for extended periods, caste divisions have been perpetuated and sometimes even aggravated for petty political gains.

Over time, there has been an expansion of reservations (quotas) for an increasingly larger number of castes and groups. These include Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), and Other Backward Classes (OBC). The OBC category, in particular, has become a broad bucket into which any political group with sufficient clout can insert itself. Now, even castes traditionally considered “higher” are sometimes campaigning for reservations, feeling that a reverse discrimination is occurring. They argue that despite having adequate or even superior merit, their opportunities in education and employment are substantially diminished due to the quota system. The Supreme Court of India has attempted to impose an upper limit on these quotas (e.g., often stipulating that reservations should not exceed 50%, though this has been a subject of ongoing legal debate and reinterpretation, with some states exceeding this limit). These quotas refer to percentages in premier educational institutions (like engineering or medicine) or prestigious state and central government jobs. For example, the total percentage of reservations for SC, ST, and OBC at the central government level is currently 49.5% (15% for SC, 7.5% for ST, and 27% for OBC). Some states have higher reservation percentages based on their specific demographic profiles.

Whether these reservations have genuinely benefited those most in need, and whether they should be based on caste identity or solely on economic criteria, are very serious questions. However, they remain political “hot potatoes” that few leaders are willing to address directly. This unfortunate politicization has contributed to the caste system’s continued survival.

Nonetheless, society is undergoing significant changes. Increased interaction, driven by digital means and other social and demographic shifts, especially through education, is gradually transforming the landscape. Many spiritual organizations, drawing from India’s rich spiritual traditions, are also conducting extensive outreach. They aim to integrate marginalized sections of society, whether lower castes or isolated tribes, into the mainstream. This is achieved by both providing opportunities to these groups and by educating mainstream society about how the caste system is not only discriminatorily awful but also a horrendous misinterpretation of the egalitarian spiritual teachings embedded in India’s spiritual texts.

The more such education spreads, the more effectively any form of discrimination—be it caste-based in India or race-based in the West—can be countered.