---
title: "Caste and Class Relationship: UPSC GS1 Guide"
description: "The caste and class relationship explains how India's caste hierarchy intersects with economic class, a key concept for UPSC sociology and policy studies."
url: "https://modeldiplomat.com/learn/glossary/caste-and-class-relationship"
---

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Model Diplomat Research Team · Last reviewed June 22, 2026

TL;DR

- The caste and class relationship describes how India's ritual hierarchy of birth-ascribed castes intersects with and partially overlaps the economic stratification of classes based on wealth, income, and occupation.
- How does caste differ fundamentally from class as a system of stratification?
- What is the 'correspondence versus divergence' debate in Indian sociology?
- How does the 'creamy layer' concept connect caste and class?
- Why is the caste-class relationship relevant to current affirmative-action policy?

[Civil Service & Diplomatic Exams](https://modeldiplomat.com/learn/civil-services/glossary)Updated June 22, 2026

The caste and class relationship describes how India's ritual hierarchy of birth-ascribed castes intersects with and partially overlaps the economic stratification of classes based on wealth, income, and occupation.

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In Janhit Abhiyan v. Union of India (2022), the Supreme Court of India upheld the 103rd Constitutional Amendment granting 10 per cent reservation to Economically Weaker Sections, applying a purely class-based criterion that for the first time benefited unreserved upper castes.

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