The early years after Independence were marked by a certain optimism about the problem of the Untouchables, which was viewed as part of the larger project of modernisation. Led by the secular and socialist-minded Nehru, official India turned its back on Hindu orthodoxy. Caste was seen as the prime symbol of social difference, the enemy of national unity. Untouchability represented the darkest side of this culture, which would fade away in the light of a new age of national and social freedom. There is no moment when this optimism vanished; it just gradually ceased to be a factor. Certain progress was made, but the problems clearly persisted and could be seen to be long-term. Political attention wandered off to other more pressing or more attractive and soluble issues. This unfortunate outcome is consistent with a general abstractness characteristic of Indian public policy. While the goal of equality for the Untouchables could excite a certain enthusiasm in New Delhi, in Nehru's India such enthusiasm was shallow and thus lacking in sustainable commitment. It was not merely the case that there were gaps between fine policy formulated in New Delhi and weak practice in the States – though practice in the States was indeed weak. The policy itself was abstract and unrealistic. It is this perspective which helps explain the conjunction of appropriately progressive sentiments discernible and genuinely held by leading politicians and civil servants in New Delhi, and an administrative performance that has been massively unequal to the task.