Odisha hikes inter-caste marriage incentives

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government on hiked the inter-caste marriage incentive to Rs 2.5 lakh from Rs 1 lakh, informed state Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe development minister Ramesh Chandra Majhi on Wednesday.

The incentive was increased to keep pace with the times and encourage more inter-caste marriages for social equality and removing untouchability, the minister said.

The hiked incentives would be implemented with retrospective effect from September 14, 2017 and be given in a marriage between upper caste Hindus and SC Hindus, he added.

The amount would be given irrespective of the economic status of the marrying couple and has to be used to purchase land or household articles.

Odisha had last time increased the amount from `50,000 to `1 lakh in 2017. A marriage in which one of the spouses belonged to the Scheduled Caste and the other belonged to a non-Scheduled Caste would be considered for the incentive. According to the rule, the couple shall have to apply for sanction and will have to execute a bond.

The couple has to refund the amount within a year if the marriage ends in divorce within five years, a government official said.

The proposal to encourage inter-caste marriages was first discussed in the meeting of the Scheduled Caste Welfare Advisory board in June 2015 under the chairmanship of state chief minister Naveen Patnaik.