Jeeze Flightknight & blrsea, seem to hit a nerve with you here. I stand corrected it is spelt CASTE...................!!
Regarding your statement that it (caste) is irrelevant in Indian aviation and that all that is required is 500PIC I reckon that if you are a national and Daddy managed to fork out the $$$$$ for you to attend a flying school then caste would be a non-issue.
Regarding it relevance to Indian aviation (as you have stated it does exist) then it is what will hinder the growth of the middle class which will stunt the growth of domestic and international seat factors which will negate the rapid growth of the airline sector.
Recently there was protests regarding allotment of space by the government to lower caste Indians at a premier medical college in India. It is precisely this mentality that will put the brakes on the aviation growth factor. How many call centres can you have to grow the wealth of the average Indian.
