Luckier villagers, from all the main caste-groups, have got their names down for another scheme, Antodaya Anna Yojana, which provides 35kg of cut-price rice a month.

ECONOMIST: India's languishing countryside

Child labourers in the Philippines, low-income black children in the US and low-caste girls in India all suffer very different educational problems which call for adapted solutions and policies.

UNESCO: WORLDWIDE

All UP's politics is caste-based.

ECONOMIST: India's languishing countryside

But individual investors of all wealth levels need to accept that there is a caste system in the world of investments that excludes them.

FORBES: Why Investors Do What's Bad For Them

Meena Varma said protestors had come from all over the country to back the call for a ban on caste discrimination.

BBC: UK Politics

The Kumbh Mela brings together Hindus of all castes and creeds, but its most famous attendees are the sadhus (wandering Hindu holy men who have renounced caste, money, possessions and social position).

BBC: India hosts the world��s biggest gathering