Privileged Patels of Gujarat fight to be given low caste status - Telegraph

Privileged Patels of Gujarat fight to be given low caste status - Telegraph

There are many advantages to being officially "disadvantaged."

"At stake in the unconventional class struggle is access to millions of government jobs and free college places allocated to lower castes under the 'reservation system' of affirmative action to counter ingrained discrimination.

"Up to 50 per cent of such positions are ring-fenced for Dalits (previously known as the 'untouchables'), tribal peoples and social groupings designated together as 'other backward classes' (OBCs), whose ranks include Mr Modi, a tea-seller's son....

"By contrast, the Patels - the family name of the Patider caste - are traditional landholders who over the years gained important roles in politics and commerce in Gujarat, a major trading hub.

"They are also one of the country's best-known castes internationally, with a major diaspora across North America and Britain where their numbers include Priti Patel, MP, the environment minister.

"But as the cost of education soars and land-holdings have been divided into smaller parcels, a new generation of Patels claim that they are the ones suffering discrimination by their exclusion from jobs and college places set aside for lower castes."