Merit as Privilege in the Age of Modernity: Caste Hierarchy and the Politics of Accountability in India

This article analyses the current discourse of ‘merit’ in India within the ever-present framework of caste hierarchy, specifically in the context of debates around the proposed UGC Guidelines 2026 on caste discrimination in higher education. It argues that the concerns of the dominant castes about the ‘misuse’ of anti-discrimination provisions mask the historical experiences of humiliation, exclusion and structural violence that require such protections. By examining the symbolic protest of 2018 against the Manu statue, the patterns of spatial and institutional segregation and the ongoing practice of caste-based labour, as evident in sanitation labour, this article illustrates how the power of caste adjusts to modern institutions while sustaining graded inequality. Engaging with Dalit philosophy, autobiographical accounts, sociological interpretations and cinematic depictions, this article critiques the ideological use of merit as a mask for inherited privilege and cultural capital. Informed by Ambedkar’s structural critique of caste, it proposes that accountability must be political rather than merely moral. Thus, the UGC Guidelines are interpreted not as separatist tools but as democratic instruments that aim to institutionalize constitutional morality, guarantee representation, safeguard dignity and convert educational spaces into sites of substantive equality instead of inherited advantage.