PERSPECTIVES
The Mirage of a Caste-less
Society in India
A M Shah
The goal of creating a caste-less
society in India, written into
the Constitution, has become a
mirage. And the mirage is moving
further away.
The author thanks Satyakam Joshi for
providing useful data, and Lancy Lobo,
P J Patel, M N Panini, and N R Sheth for
comments on the draft of this article.
A M Shah (arvindmshahdse@gmail.com) is
former Professor of Sociology, Delhi School
of Economics.
Economic & Political Weekly EPW march 4, 2017
W
hen I was a high school stu-
dent in Gujarat in the 1940s,
the issue of abolition of caste
was an important part of our discussions.
These discussions took place among
students, between students and teachers,
in institutions such as the Seva Dal and
Vidyarthi Parishad, and also in the
newspapers. In 1950, the Constitution of
independent India, under Part III on
Fundamental Rights, declared discrimi-
nation on the ground of caste unlawful
(Articles 15 and 16), and abolished
untouchability (Article 17). Under Part IV
on Directive Principles of State Policy, it
provided for promotion of rights of the
Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled
Tribes (STs) (Article 46). These constitu-
tional provisions raised hopes of progress-
ing faster towards the goal of creating a
caste-less society. Let us examine how
far Indian society has progressed in this
direction. I am asking substantially the
same question as my teacher M N Srinivas
asked, “Castes: Can They Exist in India
of Tomorrow?” at a seminar1 in Delhi in
1955, and his teacher G S Ghurye asked
in a chapter, “A Casteless Society or a
Plural Society?” in the fifth edition of
his celebrated book, Caste and Race in
India, in 1969.
Endogamy and Hypergamy
First of all, we should be clear about the
meaning of the term “caste.” Modern
sociological work since 1951 has establi-
shed that caste is different from varna,
the term used for the fourfold division of
Hindu society, namely, Brahmin, Kshatriya,
Vaishya, and Shudra, in ancient Hindu
texts. Castes are numerous, and words
such as jati, jat, gnati, gnat, nati and nat
are used. It is often said that jatis
emerged by divisions within each varna
but this is a myth, not a proven historical
fact. Available evidence shows that jatis
vol liI no 9
existed along with varnas since the
Vedic times (Thapar 1984: 50–51, 86,
166, 172; Shah 1986). Usually, a jati
claims to belong to a particular varna,
but that does not mean that it has come
into existence by division of that varna.
Every caste is a community with a
name. Its members are spread over a
number of villages and towns in an area;
hence sociologists call it a horizontal
unit. The relations between various castes
in the context of a village, town, or local
area are hierarchical and therefore
called vertical. These vertical relations
dominate thinking on caste so much that
the entire caste system is usually consid-
ered as the extreme form of inequality in
the world. In social sciences also these
inter-caste relations have received over-
whelming attention while the horizontal
unit has been relatively neglected.
When the law courts in British India
began to adjudicate on matters of caste
in the early 19th century, they searched
for certainty about the definition of caste.
They consulted indigenous scholars
(pandits and shastris) of ancient Hindu
law, and concluded that every caste is an
entity rigidly defined by the practice of
endogamy, that is, marriage within the
boundaries of caste. This definition has
prevailed in legal thought, and in Indo-
logical scholarship that began to develop
in the early 19th century. However,
modern sociological work has found two
major complications.
The first complication arises out of
divisiveness in castes (jatis). In every
region of India, the Hindu population is
divided into a number of what I have
elsewhere (1982) called caste divisions
of the first order: for example, there are
Brahmins, Banias, Rajputs, Patidars,
Kolis, etc, in Gujarat. Each of these divi-
sions is divided further into divisions
of the second order: for example, the
Banias are divided into about 40 divisions,
such as Khadayata, Modh, Nagar, and
Shrimali. Most of these are further
divided into divisions of the third order,
called ekdas (units) or gols (circles).
Traditionally, the ekda or gol is the most
effective endogamous unit, although the
caste divisions of the other two orders
61
PERSPECTIVES
also play an important role. As every
division of a higher order is susceptible
to divisions of a lower order, the bound-
aries of both in the divisive process are
indeterminate. The boundaries of a
caste may appear to be fixed at any point
of time, but they are not so fixed over a
longer period. People use the word jati
or caste indiscriminately for divisions of
all the three orders—which has been a
source of confusion in every census of
caste population since 1871.
Another major complication about the
term “caste” is due to the prevalence of
the custom of hypergamy, that is, mar-
riage of a woman of a lower status group
with a man of a higher status group. The
term “hypergamy” was coined by an
official of the 1881 Census of Punjab
(Ibbetson 1883: 356), and elaborated by
Herbert Risley, the Commissioner of the
1901 Census of India, in his monumental
work, The People of India (1915), using
information from different parts of
India. Subsequently, a few sociologists
studied hypergamy intensively. Never-
theless, it remains one of the least exp-
lored institutions in India.
Called anuloma marriage in ancient
Indian law books, hypergamy has pre-
vailed since the ancient times (Ghurye
1969: 221–29). The law books also refer
to pratiloma marriage (hypogamy, the
opposite of hypergamy), that is, marriage
between a woman of a higher caste and
a man of a lower caste. While hypergamy
was tolerated, hypogamy was frowned
upon and prohibited. The concept of
varnasankara (miscegenation or inter-
breeding of varnas), used often in literary
as well as popular discourse, is a conse-
quence of hypergamy and hypogamy.
Hypergamy is related to prevalence of
heterogeneity and hierarchy within every
caste. Although in Indology as well as in
law a caste is viewed as a homogeneous
group, in reality every caste is heteroge-
neous. In every part of India there are
large, widely spread castes, for example,
the Rajput in western India, the Patidar
and Koli in Gujarat, the Maratha in
Maharashtra, the Jat in north India, the
Okkaliga and Lingayat in Karnataka,
and the Yadava in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh,
every one of which is highly differenti-
ated. It has big landlords and even royal
62
families at one end and landless families
at the other. It is differentiated in customs
also. The upper strata would practise
dowry, and prohibit divorce, and mar-
riage of widowed and divorced women,
while the lower strata would practise
bride price, and permit divorce, and
marriage of widowed and divorced
women. In almost every such caste there
is preference for marriage of a woman of
lower status with a man of higher status.
As families of every lower stratum try to
get their daughters married upward, a
surplus of marriageable women is created
at the upper end of the hierarchy. In the
past, such hypergamy led to polygamy
as well as female infanticide at this end.
At the lower end, shortage of marriage-
able women prevails, aggravated by
adverse sex ratio at birth. The shortage
is minimised to some extent by the
marriage of widowed and divorced
women, and, in a family of two or more
sons, one son remaining unmarried.
An important consequence of hyper-
gamy in such a caste is a tendency
among its men, especially at its lower
end, to marry women from acceptable
lower castes and tribes. Such a marriage
should not be seen merely as a union
between one man and one woman. The
lower caste or tribal woman would of
course get integrated into the husband’s
caste over time. The upper caste husband,
on the other hand, acquires many new
relatives in a lower caste or tribe, such as
his wife’s father, mother, brother, sister,
brother’s wife, sister’s husband, and so
on. Similarly, the couple’s child acquires
such important relatives as the mother’s
father and mother, the mother’s brother
and his wife, the mother’s sister and her
husband, and so on in the same lower
caste or tribe. This network of relatives
might grow large in course of time, and
claim inclusion in the caste above it in
the hypergamous hierarchy. Full accept-
ance and inclusion would take time. Till
then they would use two caste names
depending upon context, a process David
Pocock (1957) aptly called “exclusion
and inclusion.” This is another source of
confusion in a caste census. Hypergamy
entails violation of the rule of endogamy
over a short period of time, but also
inclusion of a lower group into the
march 4, 2017
higher endogamous group over a longer
period—an avenue for upward mobility
of a section of a lower caste or tribe into
an upper caste. Inter-caste hypergamy
may also be seen as an extension of intra-
caste hypergamy, and vice versa. It is not
negation of caste, however.
Two major complications discussed
above, namely, existence of several orders
of caste divisions, and hypergamous
hierarchies within and between castes,
make the definition of caste as a clearly
demarcated endogamous group ques-
tionable. They make any caste-based
census or survey inaccurate. The census
enumerators in villages and towns
calmly enter in their schedules an indi-
vidual’s or her/his household’s varying
caste names. This happened at every
periodical census from 1871 to 1931. One
has to read the chapter on “caste claims”
in every census report to realise this;
leave alone the petitions for caste claims
that did not reach the census office.
Sometimes the census officials also disa-
greed in resolving a claim, whereupon a
senior official imposed his verdict arbi-
trarily. L J Sedgwick, Superintendent of
Census Operations in Bombay Presidency
in 1921, in an article in 1924, has narrated
with unusual candour the role of chance,
luck, caprice and idiosyncrasy at every
level from the census enumerator to the
census commissioner in the colonial
census of caste, tribe and religion (see
also Shah 2010). Thus, the lists of castes
printed in census reports from 1871 to
1931 and the figures of their population
are highly questionable, and should not
be quoted at present as if they are abso-
lutely correct. The widely accepted defi-
nition of caste as a rigid and closed
group is an ideal. In reality, every caste
has loose boundaries, especially at its
lower end. This flexibility enables caste
to perpetuate itself.
Amalgamation of Castes
During the independence movement a
view had developed that the best way to
create a caste-less India was to slowly
remove the sub-castes and amalgamate
them. In other words, the idea was to
eliminate first the boundaries of what I
have called the caste divisions of the
third order and amalgamate them into
vol liI no 9 EPW Economic & Political Weekly

those of the second order, then to amal-
gamate these into those of the first order,
and finally eliminate these and create
one integrated society. Such a process
was set in motion in some parts of the
country, and is still going on. The net re-
sult, however, is a society of castes with
ever increasing size. Ghurye wrote in his
seminal book on caste in 1952 (199–200):
To propose to abolish caste by slow consoli-
dation of the smaller groups into larger ones
is to miss the real problem … The sub-castes
that join together to create a super organi-
sation retain their internal feelings of exclu-
siveness with undiminished vigour. The new
orgnisation takes up a rather militant atti-
tude against other castes, especially those
which are popularly regarded as immedi-
ately higher or lower than the caste it rep-
resents … [C]aste-consciousness becomes
more definite and virile.
Prophetic words indeed! Modern India
has been witnessing such virile caste
consciousness all the time. Even the first
two decades of the 21st century have
witnessed violent agitations by the
Gurjars in Rajasthan, the Jats in Haryana,
and the Patidars in Gujarat.
Backward Classes and Caste
It is well known that the resentment of
the lower castes against the higher ones,
especially against the Brahmins, took an
organised form in the name of the back-
ward class movement in the first decade
of the 20th century in south India and
then spread to other parts of the country.
The vicissitudes of this movement are
well documented (Srinivas 1996). The
British government and a few princely
states conceded the demands of these
castes for reservations in government
jobs and in legislative bodies, and for
several other privileges. The Constitution
continued to provide these privileges,
classifying the backward classes into
three categories, SCs, STs, and Other
Backward Classes (OBCs) (Article 340,
under Part XVI: Special Provisions Relat-
ing to Certain Classes).
When the Constitution was promul-
gated in 1950, it was relatively easy to
decide which castes should be considered
as SCs and which tribes as STs because of
two reasons. One, there was broad
consensus about criteria to be applied in
defining them, and two, the governments
Economic & Political Weekly EPW march 4, 2017
in the British provinces and some prince-
ly states had already been giving certain
privileges to these castes and tribes,
thus enabling continuity.
Scheduled Castes
The term SC used in the Constitution
has been the end result of evolution of
terms used since the 1871 Census of
India to grapple with the reality of what
has long been known as the asprishyas
or untouchables in Indian society (see
Charsley 1996 for a well documented ac-
count of this evolution). A total of 1,280
SCs have been listed in the Constitution
until 2013, and with a total population of
more than 201.4 million, comprise 16.6%
of the population of India.2 There is huge
deficit of sound sociological research on
this vital section of Indian society. If, as
mentioned earlier, the study of the
horizontal dimension of caste in general
has been relatively neglected, the study
of this dimension of the SC is even more
neglected. However, I may state from
bits and pieces of available information
that every SC is internally divided into
sub-castes and sub-sub-castes just like
other castes (Shah 1987, 2002, 2007).
The SCs in every part of India are diff-
erentiated in various ways, contrary to
the popular tendency to view them as
homogeneous—especially as if all of
them practise menial occupations. Often
there is sharp conflict between two or
more of them. The conflict between the
Malas and Madigas, the two SCs of Andhra
Pradesh, for example, is well known.
They have been fighting legal battles all
the way to the Supreme Court since 2000
(Balagopal 2005). In Gujarat, besides
the Valmiki, another major SC is Vankar
(weavers) which played an important
role in the premodern textile industry. I
may also mention the Garoda or Garo
(derived from Sanskrit guru), an SC of
priests performing Sanskritic rituals for
other SCs. The Bombay Gazetteer, com-
piled in the 1870s, writes about them:
Most of them can read and a few understand
Sanskrit, reciting and explaining hymns and
passages from the Purans. They teach their
boys privately. … [They] draw up and use
horoscopes. (1901: 345)
Nowadays they get training in karma-
kand (the corpus of Sanskritic rituals) in
vol liI no 9
PERSPECTIVES
schools and colleges, helped by scholar-
ships awarded by the government (Shah
2009). They call themselves Brahmins,
and use such Brahmin surnames as Dave,
Joshi, Pandya and Vyas. They have a high
literacy rate and are in government jobs
in a proportion higher than their propor-
tion in the SC population in Gujarat. The
term Dalit thus overlooks differentiation
among the SCs.
Whatever be the economic and social
status of 1,280 SCs, every one of them is
an endogamous group. If a member of an
SC wants to get the benefits of reservation,
she/he must obtain a certificate of its
membership from a competent authority.
We do not know if there is a movement for
inter-caste marriage between the various
SCs, as also whether there is hypergamy
between a lower status SC and a higher
status one. However, they too have formed
caste associations, which organise many
activities for the members of the caste,
including marriage melas (fairs) to enable
their young boys and girls, especially in
urban areas, to have freedom of spouse
selection within the caste.
Other Backward Classes
The Constitution does not define OBCs,
but provides for the appointment of a
commission to recommend a definition
and to list these “Classes” accordingly
(Article 340). The first Backward Classes
Commission was appointed in 1953 with
Kaka Kalelkar as chairperson. It was
confronted with the problem as to
whether the term “backward class”
should be used in the sense of backward
caste. It could not come to an unanimous
conclusion. Moreover, while submitting
its report to the government in 1955
Kalelkar wrote a letter expressing his
anguish at caste being made the criterion
of backwardness. The report therefore
became infructuous. The issue was re-
vived in 1979 with the appointment of
the second Backward Classes Commis-
sion, well known as the Mandal Com-
mission as it was headed by parliamen-
tarian B P Mandal. It submitted its
report in 1980, recommending caste as
the basic unit for backward class status.
Its implementation was announced in
August 1990. While the Kalelkar Com-
mission had identified 2,394 OBCs, the
63
PERSPECTIVES
Mandal Commission identified 3,743
OBCs, reserving 27% of government jobs
for them (Srinivas 1996: xxvi–xxviii). The
Backward Classes Commissions in the
states also resolved to apply the caste
criterion. If any state commission disa-
greed, as did the Rane Commission in
Gujarat in 1981, the government did not
accept its report. In 2013, the total number
of OBCs recognised by all the states was
2,449, of which 2,342 were approved by
the National Commission for Backward
Classes. In 2015, the number of approved
OBCs has gone up to 2,418.3 As the Census
of India does not recognise OBC as a
special category, there are no officially
recognised figures of its population.
There are only estimates based on the
1931 Census figures, which are unreliable.
The semantic equivalence between
“class” and “caste” is controversial.4 These
two words do not have the same mean-
ing in the social sciences or among
educated Indians. Of course, there is no
unanimity about the meaning of the
word “class” in the social sciences, but
no social scientist would stretch it to
mean “caste.” The judiciary also consid-
ered this question. Its position may be
summed up as stated in the Supreme
Court’s judgment in the case of P Rajen-
dran v State of Madras (1968): “A caste is
also a class of citizens.” The word “class”
is used here in a very wide and general
sense, meaning a number of persons
possessing common attributes and
grouped together under a general or
“class” name. In this sense, women, chil-
dren, fathers, mothers, doctors, advocates,
etc, are also classes. One suspects here
what Zechariah Chafee (1941) said long
ago in a paper, “The Disorderly Conduct
of Words” in the judicial process.5
However, the class factor could not be
held back. The Constitution itself uses
the designation “Socially and Education-
ally Backward Class” (Article 340), which
has led to considering differences in
social and educational backwardness.
The government and the judiciary have
responded by dividing the OBCs into
“backward,” “more backward” and “most
backward” sections, and denying bene-
fits of reservation to a class called the
“creamy layer” in every caste (Srinivas
1996: xxviii–xxxi).6 Thus, the class factor
64
now operates under the umbrella of
caste, allowing the latter to be the domi-
nant force. If an individual wants to get
the benefits of reservation as a member
of an OBC, she/he must be a member of a
particular caste included in the lists of
OBCs, and obtain a certificate of mem-
bership from a competent authority.
With 2,418 castes receiving benefits of
reservation irrespective of economic
and social differentiation within them,
many of the castes that were left out
have begun to demand reservation,
arguing that they too have many eco-
nomically and socially disadvantaged
members. The castes with large popula-
tions are especially vociferous, such as
the Gurjars in Rajasthan, the Jats in
Haryana, and the Patidars in Gujarat,
because they wield considerable clout in
electoral politics. Certain castes with
somewhat smaller populations and
occupying higher status in traditional
social hierarchy also do not wish to be
left behind in the competition for bene-
fits of reservation. “Backward class” is
no longer an odious epithet. These
castes too project radical postures.
The Brahmins hold all-India confer-
ences, where they invoke the ancient
Brahmin warrior Parashuram who, ac-
cording to legend, eliminated all
Kshatriyas from the surface of the earth
(Shah 2005). A large sub-caste among
the Banias in Gujarat has been announc-
ing for the last few years, on the cover
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page of their mouthpiece, that it is en-
dowed with virility. The artisan and
craftsman castes such as blacksmiths,
carpenters and potters hold conferences
where they invoke Vishwakarma, the
creator of the universe. Recently they
held a conference in Ahmedabad, which
was addressed by an internationally
reputed technocrat. Similarly, a celebrity
participated in the all-India conference
of Kayasthas held in another city in
Gujarat. These new demands for reser-
vation are opposed by the castes that are
already receiving the benefits of reserva-
tion, leading to violent demonstrations by
both on the streets.
Both the central and the state govern-
ments are faced with the problem of
dealing with these new demands for
reservation. Since the executive has
to deal with this problem within the
contours set by the judiciary, the prob-
lem reaches the portals of the high
courts and the Supreme Court. The
courts order the governments to get
these claims examined by committees
of experts, and submit relevant data.
Hardly has any committee been able to
provide satisfactory data. The judiciary
had asked the government to carry out
a caste census all over India. It has been
reported that the National Commission
for Backward Classes and the Registrar
General and Census Commissioner of
India expressed their inability to conduct
the caste census, whereupon the job
Mumbai
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vol liI no 9 EPW Economic & Political Weekly

was handed over to the Ministry of Rural
Development, which is even less compe-
tent than the other two for this job. No
results have been published so far. As
discussed earlier, so many complex issues
are involved in conducting a caste cen-
sus that it has not been possible to con-
duct it accurately since 1871. Let us hope
the judiciary, the government and the
social scientists recognise this reality.
Inter-caste Marriage
It is often argued that inter-caste mar-
riages will soon bring about a caste-less
society. Surely, since inter-caste marriages
began to take place roughly at the begin-
ning of the 20th century, their number
has been increasing. However, their
nature requires careful examination.
First of all, as discussed earlier, it is nec-
essary to recognise that there have been
several orders of caste divisions, that is,
caste, sub-caste, and sub-sub-caste. The
rule of caste endogamy worked well
even in the smallest castes as long as the
parents and other elders controlled the
arrangement of marriages of young boys
and girls. But, with the age at marriage
increasing, and consent of young boys
and girls in arranging their marriage
gradually becoming the norm, the endo-
gamous boundaries of small caste units
became unviable. Consequently, there
developed movements to merge these
units and form larger endogamous units
as the effective units of endogamy, so
that boys and girls—as well as their
elders—get wider fields for arranging
marriage. Most of the so-called inter-
caste marriages are therefore in fact
inter-sub-caste marriages. The larger
castes persist. This is another dimension
of the movements for amalgamation of
castes discussed earlier.
In the past, repressive means were
used to enforce caste endogamy. The
law does not permit these repressive
means now, though cases of such repres-
sion get reported in the media from time
to time, like the penalties imposed by
the khap panchayats on adult boys and
girls and their families in parts of north
India. Such repressive measures are
declining gradually. However, those be-
longing to different castes are deve-
loping all kinds of “soft” stratagems to
Economic & Political Weekly EPW march 4, 2017
restrict spouse selection within caste
boundaries. The caste associations orga-
nise a number of activities for the chil-
dren of the caste to inculcate in them
the ideology of caste. For adult boys and
girls, spouse selection has become a
cooperative exercise involving the net-
work of close kin and friends, marriage
bureaus, and modern means of commu-
nication such as caste journals, newspa-
pers, magazines, and the internet. The
caste associations organise activities for
marriageable boys and girls of the caste
to interact closely. Most important, they
organise elaborate “marriage melas.”
The main point is that the basic idea of
arranged marriage persists along with
the individual’s freedom of choice. The
elders do not also mind if their child
“falls in love” as long as love is within
the caste. Actually, it is freedom of choice
within a caste. Even if it is called “love,”
it is love shackled by the bonds of caste.
The children accept this method of spouse
selection with two main arguments: one,
“we wish to keep our parents happy,” and
two, “common culture provided by caste
is necessary for success of marriage.”
The idea of caste endogamy persists in
the Indian diaspora. Caste associations
which are active in the US, Australia,
Africa, Britain and Canada, promote
caste endogamy. These associations are
in active interaction with caste associa-
tions in India. And all kinds of stratagems
are employed to arrange intra-caste
marriages across continents.
In the case of marriages that have
taken place breaking major caste barriers,
it is necessary to observe them over at
least two generations. Often a child born
out of such a marriage identifies herself/
himself with the kin and caste of one of
the parents and eventually marries into
this caste. This leads to what one may
call a reversal to the caste order.
The number of marriages crossing
the boundaries of major endogamous
units is of course increasing. But, most
of them occur in large cities and that
too in certain sections of urban society.
Marriages take place between members
of the caste in the village and the city,
often hypergamously. It would be a
mistake to think that caste does not
exist in the city, or that the idea of caste
vol liI no 9
PERSPECTIVES
endogamy has disappeared from the
castes that exist in the city. In fact, the
city is the centre of activities of caste
associations, and provides leadership to
the members of the horizontal unit spread
in villages and towns all over the country.
A new social category of people that
appears to be free from the bonds of
caste has indeed emerged in the country.
However, it is quite small, compared to
the size of the country. It claims to be
liberal, cosmopolitan and global. But, it
is necessary to assess its capacity to
influence the rest of this vast society.
It does not appear to be even loosely
organised, compared with the tight organ-
isation of castes. Often the claim to being
caste-less is skin deep, and caste surfaces
all of a sudden in mysterious ways.
Reservations and Endogamy
Every caste included in the SC and OBC
lists is endogamous. Its membership
carries with it the entitlement of claim-
ing benefits of reservation. If it wants to
retain this entitlement for its members,
it has to guard its boundaries, for which
it has to mobilise itself to promote
endogamous marriage. This is a chal-
lenge its leadership faces in view of its
younger generation demanding freedom
of spouse selection. Those castes which do
not have reservations but are demanding
them have also to face this challenge,
if they are not already facing it. As
mentioned earlier, since the law does
not allow repressive measures to enforce
endogamy, every caste is inventing “soft”
ways to promote it.
Traditionally, every caste has of course
been trying to maintain its endogamous
boundaries. But if it acquires the statu-
tory status of an SC or OBC, and there-
fore entitlement to the benefits of reser-
vation, maintenance of that entitlement
requires it to maintain it even more
rigorously. The size and nature of the
caste-less category is therefore depend-
ent on the number of castes free from
this nexus between caste endogamy and
caste-based reservation. If we take into
account the number of castes already
enjoying the privileges of reservation
and the number of castes now demanding
reservation in the country as a whole,
the total number of such castes would be
65
PERSPECTIVES

huge, and so would be their total popu-
lation. The space for a caste-less society
is thus shrinking. A caste-less society
is a mirage, and the mirage is moving
further away.
Postscript
A few days after this article was submit-
ted for publication, massive demonstra-
tions were held by Marathas all over
­Maharashtra to press for several dema­
nds, especially reservations.
Notes
1 The seminar participants included S Radha­
krishnan, Jagjivan Ram, Gobind Ballabh Pant,
V K R V Rao, Kaka Kalelkar, Jivaraj Mehta,
­Hansa Mehta, A R Wadia, Irawati Karve, and
many others.
2 The total number of SCs in India has been
­compiled by taking the numbers of SCs listed in
the orders for different states and union terri-
tories issued by the Ministry of Social Justice
from time to time. The population figure is
taken from the Census of India 2011.
3 See National Commission for Backward Classes,
Annual Report for 2012–13, www.ncbc.nic.in
(retrieved on 13 September 2016).
4 I discussed this issue in detail in my I P Desai
Memorial Lecture, “The Judicial and Socio-
logical View of Other Backward Classes”
(1992).
5 For an analysis of this issue in the judicial pro-
cess in a tribal society in Africa, see Gluckman
(1955: 305–11, 327–56).
6 “Creamy layer” is a nice picturesque term. The
judges and lawyers are reluctant to use terms
like “higher class,” “upper class” and “elite
class” used in social sciences.
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The Problem of Caste

Edited by
Satish Deshpande
Caste is one of the oldest concerns of the social sciences in India that continues to be relevant even today.
The general perception about caste is that it was an outdated concept until it was revived by colonial policies and
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Authors: Satish Deshpande • Irawati Karve • M N Srinivas • Dipankar Gupta • André Béteille • Rajni Kothari • Kumkum Roy • Sukhadeo Thorat
• Katherine S Newman • Marc Galanter • Sundar Sarukkai • Gopal Guru • D L Sheth • Anand Chakravarti • Carol Upadhya • Ashwini Deshpande
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• Prem Chowdhry • V Geetha • Sharmila Rege • S Anandhi • J Jeyaranjan • Rajan Krishnan • Rekha Raj • Kancha Ilaiah • Aditya Nigam • M S S Pandian

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66 march 4, 2017  vol liI no 9  EPW   Economic & Political Weekly