On the Taming of State: Dominant Caste Elites and Castebased Reservation in India

Abstract

In India, state builders' vision was to create a caste-equal society, which was institutionalised by including a reservation policy in the Indian Constitution. However, scholars from various disciplines have demonstrated that caste-based reservations have been ineffective and insufficient in achieving social equality. This paper argues that dominant caste elites played an influential part in taming the state to their caste-based interest, undermining caste-based reservation policy. Adopting a historical approach, this paper examines the role of dominant caste elites in the state apparatus and analyse how elites tamed the state to undermine caste-based reservation policy. Rather than elite capture of the state broadly, the terminology of "taming" is used to showcase how various categories of elites limit the Indian state's capacity for caste equality. The essay is structured into three sections, each focusing on a distinct historical period shaped by the state ideology: British Raj, characterised by colonial rule; Independent India, represented by Nehruvian state-directed development; and Neoliberal India, characterised by market reforms and liberalisation.