In a welcome move, the Centre has decided to lift the income ceiling on its scheme which provides Rs 2.5 lakh to every inter-caste couple provided the bride or the bridegroom is a Dalit. The purpose of the Dr. Ambedkar Scheme for Social Integration through Inter-Caste marriage which was introduced in 2013 is to prevent social ostracism of people marrying outside their caste and to provide state help to them to have a prosperous married life. But the scheme does not appear to have helped much in promoting inter-caste alliances. According to the National Family Survey (2005-06), inter-caste marriages account for only 11% of all matrimonial alliances in the country. The continuance of caste marriages in large numbers is a sign of social orthodoxy. Politics has not helped in overcoming the barrier. Marriage is seen as a means to perpetuate the caste system. Not only Dr. B.R Ambedkar but also Mahatma Gandhi in his later years supported inter-caste marriage at his Sabarmati ashram. The founding fathers of the Indian Republic were all for the eradication of the caste system. Political empowerment of the downtrodden castes is a step towards this end. Inter-caste marriage plays a role in achieving this goal. But that should not be an electoral ploy.
The assertions of the lower castes in recent years have in fact heightened the arrogance of the upper castes. Transgression of the caste system is increasingly under attack. Promotion of inter-caste marriage is not on any political party’s electoral agenda. On the contrary, conservatism is becoming increasingly aggressive in a surreptitious manner.