Was the Indian caste system effective in organizing society?

The caste system can be traced back to ancient times in the Indian subcontinent. This is important to note because it shows how anachronistic the practice has become over the last few decades. In fact, the caste system is still influential in modern-day India but is quickly becoming an extinct practice.
When the Mughal Empire collapsed, the caste system became a way for old aristocratic families to keep their positions of power and wealth intact. This was not productive to society as a whole, since it further widened the social and economic divisions in India. When the British Empire ruled the subcontinent (present-day India, Pakistan, Kashmir, and Bangladesh), the imperialists used the already-established caste system to strategically divide the India society.
So, was the Indian caste system effective in organizing society? Yes, but its consequences were mostly negative and counter-productive to national independence and unity.
https://web.stanford.edu/~avner/Greif_228_2007/Freitas,%20Kripa.%202006.%20The%20Indian%20Caste%20System.pdf