Under the new plan, the government intends to reserve nearly half of state-funded professional college places for lower caste students from 2007.

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For example, youth and the elders perform, the Brahmans lead the prayers and perform the rituals, and the Bhandaris representing locals of the Kshatriya caste are alone entitled to wear one of the most sacred masks, that of the half-man, half-lion Hindu deity, Narasimha.

UNESCO: Culture

"Half a century on, we cannot avoid the conclusion that ENA has produced nothing more than an omnipotent 'caste' capable of only one thing: planning its members' career-paths, " said Jean-Michel Fourgous and Herve Novelli.

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