ABSTRACT
Caste played a role in unionization and politicization of the rural labour force. The Central Government initiated several policy measures that liberalized the earlier licence-quota raj and opened the Indian economy to private players and the global capital. The policy shift also influenced the employment structures of the Indian economy. Even though employment opportunities expanded in the private sector, jobs available in the state sector began to shrink. For the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes this meant lesser jobs under the quota system, the Indian policy of reservations. Reservation policy was also seen to be out of tune with modern values related to work. 'Modern' practices needed to move away from hiring of the kith and kin to a system of recruitment based on the required qualification and individual merit. The corporate sector works with the assumption that caste is simply an irrelevant subject.
