ABSTRACT
Panchayati Raj has incorporated the reservation of seats for various disadvantaged groups in local self-governments. The intention was to include these groups, which otherwise would have been left out as representatives in the institutions of local government. While the intention was good, the results have left much to be desired, particularly insofar as being instrumental in enhancing the possibility of social and political mobility for not just these representatives, but also for the social groups to which they belong. The present chapter looks at the situation of representatives from the Scheduled Castes who have become presidents of gram panchayats in Tamil Nadu. This is also in the context of dominant castes that are found in various parts of the state, who exercise much more power and control over the Panchayats even when they are not elected representatives themselves. Some of these castes have even been referred to as “dominant lower castes” because they are found in the lower half of the caste hierarchy, but they are still able to exercise dominance in the manner that was described by M. N. Srinivas many years ago.
