“Case continues to be very strongly linked to economic status in many important ways.” Explain.
As the evidence from the National Sample Survey shows, caste continues to be very strongly linked to economic status in many important ways: The average economic status (measures by criteria like monthly consumption expenditure) of caste groups still follows the old hierarchy – the ‘upper’ castes are best off, the Dalits and Adivasis are worst off, and the backward castes are in between. Although every caste has some poor members, the proportion living in extreme poverty (below the official ‘poverty line’) is much higher for the lowest castes and much higher for the upper castes, with the backward castes once again in between. Although every caste has some members who are rich, the upper castes are heavily over-represented among the rich while the lower castes are severely under-represented.
