UPSC Mains 2020 GS1 Q8: Has Caste Lost Its Relevance in Multi-Cultural India?

Caste has not lost relevance. It remains a real, measurable factor in Indian social and political life, even alongside other identities.

Marriage patterns remain overwhelmingly endogamous within caste, one of the clearest ongoing markers of caste’s continuing relevance.

Electoral politics continues to organise around caste identity, from ticket distribution to caste-based alliances and vote banks.

Constitutional reservation categories are themselves defined by caste, keeping caste administratively central to Indian governance.

Studies show caste still correlates with access to education, employment, and wealth, despite decades of formal reform.

M.N. Srinivas’s Sanskritization shows caste groups actively working to raise their status within the caste system, not exiting it.

Urban, professional settings do show caste identity mattering less in daily interaction, even as it persists in marriage and politics.

Argue caste retains real relevance, with concrete illustrations across marriage, politics, and reservation policy, while acknowledging its expression has become more complex and context-dependent in urban settings.