In India, the caste system developed and is prevalent since ancient times and it remains as a great thorn in the growth of Mother India. The origin of caste system could be the functional groupings, called varnas, which have their origins in the Aryan society. "According to the Rig Veda hymn, the different classes sprang from the four limbs of the Creator. The Creator‘s mouth became the Brahman priests, his two arms formed the Rajanya (Khastriyas), the warriors and kings, his two thighs formed the Vaishya, landowners and merchants, and from his feet were born the Shudra (Untouchables) artisans and servants. Then, it is believed that the caste system had been adopted by the Brahmins to express their superiority. When the Aryan races swept into India, they wanted to maintain the superiority and so they maintained the caste systems. Gradually the caste system became formalized into four major groups, each with its own rules and regulations and code of conduct, which is being practiced actively, till today and is, where, in one hand preserves the history of Indian culture; deters the growth of the country on the other hand.
It is very much evident that, current structuring and formulation process of policies are dependent on the preexisting norms and structures of our society. In other words, history of culture of any land plays as the backbone to its present form. Hence, caste is one of the most prominent features of India’s history, so its obvious to mention the imprint of its presence in todays political scenario.
This paper tries to throw light on the influence of caste system in present India, with correspondence to the past. How the caste system have both positive and negative impacts on the country’s development and what was the actual idea while creating caste system and how it is corroding the growth of the country in the present time, are some of the questions which are tried to be answered in this particular paper.
