The caste system resulted in lot of evils because of its rigid rules. Society was divided into strict compartments and those belonging to higher castes exploited the lower-caste people. A person born in one caste was doomed to remain in it forever.

The Shudras and untouchables had to perform all the menial tasks. They could not do anything to make things better for themselves. Worse, they could not even think of anything better for their own children who remained slaves or bonded labourers.

This rigidity affected all the sections of society. A Brahmin with the qualities of a warrior could not take up the profession of a Kshatriya and vice versa.

As for a Shudra, even if one was intelligent and aspired to study there was no scope for him or her at all. They could not even touch a holy book or enter a temple.

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Thus, there was no freedom of choice for anyone. Initiative and enterprise was suppressed and the progress of the country was severely hampered. People could not marry out of their caste or even eat with people belonging to lower-castes as social mixing was severely restricted.

People remained confined to their own castes and were not exposed to different ideas and ways of thought. Thus, their thinking also became narrow and limited. This also led to separatism. People only thought of the welfare of their own castes and not that of the society as a whole.

These caste prejudices still plague our society and even become influential factors at the time of elections. Politicians encourage and exploit these attitudes for their own gains. Discrimination against lower-castes is widely prevalent and has kept a large percentage of our population backward. In this way, the development of our country has been hampered.