I think, it's more like, it's not pure meritocracy as well. It's kind of a mix between meritocracy, community role model and a sprinkle of nepotisms.
While it's ingrained in the culture, to be the best you can be for certain communities, having tons of people with the same ethnicity/community/caste benefit you as well. People don't go climbing up the higher echelons on pure meritocracy.
There is a reason Indians are over-represented among other Asian ethnicities and that is not pure meritocracy.
