In India, dangerous stuff often pays less due to caste and other considerations. Manual sewage cleaners have a really high death rate in India and are paid peanuts.
Casteism is an Organized mafia operating in South Asia since 700 BC https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rigveda which is evident from the fact that 50% Ministers in Modi Cabinet are Brahmin; And Brahmin are just 3% in India;
The caste system existed long before Europeans ruled India. Caste system has roots in the Vedic society.
"The varnas originated in Vedic society (c. 1500–500 BCE). The first three groups, Brahmins, Kshatriyas and Vaishya have parallels with other Indo-European societies, while the addition of the Shudras is probably a Brahmanical invention from northern India."
... "there is no evidence in the Rigveda for an elaborate, much-subdivided and overarching caste system" [1]
Caste and any discrimination is abhorrent, and like others have commented is a more recent phenomenon. In old times and today, anyone can become a priest/Brahmin by learning. [2]
The "Caste system" has European roots connected to the monopoly of one book, one god and the all powerful church.
In Europe the king was the representative of god and got his powers through the church. Then came the merchants, landowners who funded the state. Artisans took the next rung. The unskilled workers took the most menial jobs came last.
We call this today as the class system but this was the original caste system imported from Europe and applied on the native population of India.
While one can not deny that there were/are different communities and a kind of class hierarchies in India just like in the rest of the world. The rigid caste system is actually the work of the Church. In India each community had its own gods and its own chieftains and priests.
Even in the West we consider some jobs off-limits to holders of certain offices. Imagine a SCOTUS judge cleaning sewers for money or shooting porn when the court is not in session.
Caste works in a similar way, but is determined by birth.
I donot Think children of potus would suddenly become sewer cleaners either. is that determination by birth?
Problem has been and is poverty. if british government treated india like england none of these problems would exist.
British government treated English (and much worse, Irish) working class like dirt too. Poverty in 19th century Britain was indescribable, even though people like Dickens tried their best to put the images into writing for future generations.
Victorian Britain was extremely classist.
However British government developed institutions in England and Ireland which eventually led to overall greater wealth and equality for most of the population. Whereas in India these institutions were systematically short-circuited to create inequality and a locus of power/wealth that favoured British colonialists.
Oh, the British Raj treated the Indian poor and lower classes like untouchables, with a good dose of racism mixed in.
I've seen images barring Indians from establishments; this report mentions "No dogs or Indians allowed" https://www.smh.com.au/world/no-dogs-or-indians-colonial-bri...
You still see casteism and classism in Indian today, although it may be more subtle.
https://www.quora.com/Which-caste-is-looting-India/answers/2...