Structural challenges, development goals and concerns for equity: A case of caste in India

Abstract

This paper discusses caste as a structural challenge for development goals oriented towards equity. In an attempt to do so, it takes an overview of the process of development in post-independence India. Focusing on the interface of caste and state, it notes that experiences of modernisation in India have been different from that of the West, or as envisaged in classical literature. On the one hand, caste has not remained unimpressed by economic and political changes, on the other hand, many formal institutions were incorporated within the traditional social structure. It notes that modernisation, as conceived in the Indian context, was not free from an elitist bias. Taking cognisance of the close relationship between caste and class, this paper argues that the social structure and the State interact with each other in a mutually reinforcing relationship. If caste posed a serious challenge to the development goals pursued by the State, the Indian establishment too, pursued policies that helped the continuation of inequalities based on caste and class.