India’s caste barriers to meritocracy have narrowed but not disappeared, new research finds

India’s caste barriers to meritocracy have narrowed but not disappeared, new research finds

India’s caste system historically dictated access to education, occupations and wealth, creating a fundamentally unmeritocratic society in which economic outcomes were determined largely by birth rather than ability.

New research suggests India has become more meritocratic over the past four decades, with historically disadvantaged caste groups making significant gains in education and skilled employment. However, deep inequalities remain and progress has been uneven.

Drawing on colonial census records, Bishnupriya Gupta, Kaivan Munshi and Swapnil Singh trace the evolution of caste-based inequality in India from the colonial era to the present day. They find that while the caste system remains a major barrier to meritocracy, since the 1980s the gap between historically disadvantaged communities and upper castes has narrowed significantly in both education and occupations.

Their research Caste and Meritocracy in India shows that in colonial India there were huge disparities between upper-caste and lower-caste groups. Access to literacy, formal schooling and skilled work was heavily concentrated among upper castes, with lower castes almost entirely excluded.

The study argues that British colonial policies, despite their stated commitment to merit-based recruitment and education, largely reinforced existing social hierarchies. Upper castes benefited disproportionately from access to schools, universities and government employment, enabling them to capture many of the opportunities created by economic modernisation.

After independence in 1947, India introduced one of the world’s largest affirmative action programmes, reserving places in higher education and public-sector employment for lower caste communities. At the same time, economic development, urbanisation and the expansion of mass education created new routes for mobility.

Using National Sample Survey data from 1987 to 2011, the researchers found substantial improvements in education across all caste groups with literacy rates, years of schooling and occupational patterns increasing - narrowing the gap between castes for both men and women.

Although the researchers highlight India’s affirmative action programme as an important driver of this change, they also cite caste based social networks as a significant mechanism for social mobility where formal markets and institutions are weak. Rather than being seen as a barrier, the social ties of caste can help people move into new occupations, migrate and build businesses.

Bishnupriya Gupta, Professor of Economics at the University of Warwick and CAGE Research Director said:

“Historically the Indian economy was deeply unmeritocratic. Occupations, wealth and educational access were shaped less by individual ability than by the caste born into.

“Colonial modernisation only served to widen caste disparities by creating new skilled occupations that lower-caste groups could not easily enter.

“We find that the recent convergence of opportunity across castes is not a product of policy alone but is a result of the interaction between state intervention, market expansion and informal social organisation.”

While caste remains a powerful determinant of opportunity, decades of economic development, educational expansion and affirmative action appear to have reduced some of the historical disadvantages faced by lower caste communities.

The evidence suggests that India is moving gradually towards a more balanced meritocracy but with disparities between caste groups and within them, it is uneven and still shaped by both formal policies and inherited social structures.

• Read the full research paper: Caste and Meritocracy in India