Ministry of Social justice and Empowerment, Central govt. has made revisions in the previous “Dr. B.R Ambedkar Scheme for Social Integration through Inter Caste Marriage”. Subsequently, govt. will provide Rs 2.5 lakh to the couple in which either bride or bridegroom is Dalit. Moreover, govt. also removes the income ceiling of Rs. 5 Lakh p.a. This is a positive move of the Modi govt. to open the scheme for all and to promote Inter Caste Marriage.
This revision in the social integration scheme will tackle the problem of low response & approval rate. Moreover, Central govt. is going to spread awareness about the scheme even at the block levels. Modi govt. is relieving strict pre-conditions to put an end to caste system and endogamy (marriage within its own community).
Inter Caste Marriage Scheme 2024 – Rs. 2.5 Lakh on Dalit Marriage
The important features and highlights of this Dalit Marriage Rs. 2.5 lakh scheme are as follows:-
- This Marriage scheme is for appraisal of the socially bold step and to help the couples in settling down in the initial phase of married life.
- Pre-condition to avail this scheme is that this is the first marriage of the couple.
- In addition to this, the marriage is registered under the Hindu Marriage Act and the couple should submit the proposal within 1 year.
- Now central govt. scraps the pre-condition that the total income of the newly married couple must not exceed Rs 5 lakh. Accordingly for now, there is no Condition / Ceiling of income limit to avail the benefits of this scheme.
- Subsequently, every couple in which any one of the bride or bridegroom is Dalit will now receive Rs 2.5 lakhs.
- They can receive this amount after submission of Aadhaar details and their joint bank account (Aadhaar linked) to the concerned Ministry.
- Furthermore, the target for each state is fixed in proportion to the Scheduled Castes (SC) residing in the states. However, states can exceed their limit while giving approval.
Need for Revisions in Inter Caste Marriage Scheme
- Low Approval Rate – Central govt. makes this revisions to encourage inter caste marriages as the response to social integration scheme with previous provisions was poor. This schemes targets to provide benefits to around 500 couples per year. However, the number of beneficiaries were 5 in the year 2014-15, only 72 (out of 522) in 2015-16, 45 (out of 736) in 2016-17, 74 (out of 409) in 2017-18.
- Strict Pre-Conditions – This low rate of approval is because the couples are not meeting all the pre-conditions. For example, only the couples whose marriage is solemnized under the Hindu Marriage Act are eligible.
- Lack of Awareness – The scheme awareness is very low at the block or district level. Most of the applications comes from a very few states such as Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Telangana.
Central Govt. Data on Inter Caste Marriages
- Central govt. does not releases the data on the basis of caste in Socio-Economic and Caste Census. So, availability of Exact data of inter caste marriages in India is not available.
- As per the National Family Health Survey (NHFS-III) data, the rate of inter caste marriages in India is 11%.
- Accordingly in certain states like Jammu & Kashmir, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Meghalaya and Tamil Nadu, approx. 95% of the total married couples marry within their own caste (Jati).
- Furthermore, other states such as Punjab, Sikkim, Goa and Kerala performs well with 80% couples marrying in their own caste.
The Central govt. is making every possible effort to revive this scheme and to put an end to the traditional way of marriages on the grounds of Jatis (Caste) and Up-Jatis (Sub Caste).
References
Central govt. has made above mentioned revisions in the previous scheme which a candidate can see in details. Here is the PDF file for Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Scheme for Social Integration through Inter Caste Marriage which can be checked using the link – http://www.ambedkarfoundation.nic.in/schemes/ICM.pdf
For more details, visit the official website at http://www.ambedkarfoundation.nic.in/schemes.html