Caste, Class, and Stalled Social Mobility: Structural Constraints on Marginalized Communities in Contemporary India

India’s socio-economic transformation represents an emancipatory project whose achievements, though significant, remain structurally circumscribed. Constitutional equality, affirmative action, and the expansion of public education weakened entrenched forms of exclusion and enabled segments of historically marginalised communities to attain limited upward mobility, securing entry into formal employment and the lower middle strata. Yet this advancement has not culminated in durable economic elevation or meaningful access to elite positions, exposing a persistent disjunction between juridical liberation and substantive class mobility. This paper interrogates the paradox of chains broken yet ladders blocked by examining the structural constraints that impede progression beyond the middle tiers. Drawing upon economic and sociological perspectives, it demonstrates how asymmetries in access to land, financial capital, elite educational institutions, and influential social networks continue to govern patterns of wealth accumulation and occupational stratification across generations. It further contends that post-liberalisation growth, while expansive in aggregate terms, has recalibrated inequality by disproportionately valorising inherited assets and entrenched forms of cultural capital. The study concludes that India’s development must be assessed not merely through growth metrics but through its capacity to institutionalise inclusive and intergenerational mobility. Keywords: Caste inequality; Intergenerational mobility; Marginalized communities; Social stratification; Economic liberalization. JEL Classification: J15; D63; O15; O53; Z13