Tell me about the caste system in India and if it's still around?

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jayaraman

The Indian caste system is the traditional system of social division in the Indian Subcontinent, in which social classes are defined by a number of endogamous groups often termed as jÄtis. The castes are hereditary, endogamous system, social classes or subclasses. Within a caste there exist exogamous groups known as gotras.

The Indian caste system is gradually relaxing, especially in metropolitan and other major urban areas, due to the penetration of higher education, co-existence of all communities and lesser knowledge about caste system due to alienation with rural roots of people. But in the countryside and small towns, this system is still very rigid. However, the total elimination of caste system seems distant, if ever possible, due to caste politics.

The Government of India has officially documented castes and subcastes, primarily to determine those deserving reservation (positive discrimination in education and jobs) through the census. The Indian reservation system relies entirely on quotas. The Government lists consist of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes:

Scheduled castes (SC)
Scheduled castes generally consist of former "untouchables" (the term "Dalit" is now preferred). Present population is 16% of total population of India i.e. around 160 million. For example, the Delhi state has 49 castes listed as SC.
Scheduled tribes (ST)
Scheduled tribes generally consist of tribal groups. Present population is 7% of total population of India i.e. around 70 million.

Other Backward Classes (OBC)
The Mandal Commission covered more than 3000 castes under OBC Category and stated that OBCs form around 52% of the Indian population. However, the National Sample Survey puts the figure at 32%.. There is substantial debate over the exact number of OBCs in India. It is generally estimated to be sizable, but many believe that it is lower than the figures quoted by either the Mandal Commission or the National Sample Survey
The caste-based reservations in India have led to wide-spread protests, with many complaining of reverse discrimination against the forward castes.

To know more about this please see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_caste_system-

Brett Lee

Caste system is still plaguing some parts of India. It brings in economic inequality and unequal rights. So, the high caste people can exploit the lower classes easily. But, of course, India is improving a lot.

duggiedugg

Caste is still very much around in India - mainly in the poorer rural areas now though.
Its just creates a divide ie rich/poor, educated/uneducated, skilled/unskilled.
Its just a lot of hypocritical nonsense - in some cities now - lowers caste workers are educated and working in good jobs and owing businesses and properties.

Annie

Yeah, caste system is still exist but in backward areas not in a big cities, well inequality is everywhere but in different ways i.e racism.

snowdrops

in cities you dont get to see it but if you go to rural areas of india then there is still some descrimination.

thats why harijan children (consdered as lower caste) get free uniforms and books to study.

it's changed a lot and it's still changing

Rachael N

Well, the caste system in India was supposedly made illegal by the Indian government some decades ago, but the results of thousands of years of discimination are very, very obvious. The Brahman is the highest caste, the untouchables- the lowest. The Brahman were not so much as to come near an untouchable in order to keep their souls "pure." It was believed that those who were poor and unskilled had committed crimes and wrongdoings in their past life, and therefore had to follow the ethical rules known as dharma in order to gain a higher caste in the next life. On the other hand, the Brahman were considered to have done great things and completely followed their dharma guidelines, and therefore these people (richer people) looked down upon lower castes. Unlike America or other countries, you were completely unable to raise your caste yourself, no self-made millionaires. I don't have any proof or anything, but I kind of feel like the extreme poverty of India's people today is quite possibly a result of the past caste system. I mean, there can only be so many high and mighty rich people in the world, right?

Hope I have helped explained it a bit, I don't know all the little details, but this is a quick overview.

ABDE

It is still around remote areas of India untouched by civilization. It absolutely doesn't affect the everyday life. On the other hand you might experience some racism in many western countries during your every day life. It is just another one of the western hyped up things.

CH25

Well I dont live in INDIA but I was a nanny for a family who were indian and she was from South and He was from north she said it would have been looked down upon there. He is really dark and she is very light skinned.

hanibal

We are using the same nick .
sorry I don't know any thing about India.

It looks like wearing same t-shirt :)

Nice day to you

Muhammad Ishfaq A

Check in Wikipedia, Castes of India

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