Centre offers Rs 2.5 lakh for every inter-caste marriage involving a Dalit
The government has removed the income ceiling of Rs 5 lakh per annum for recently married inter-caste couples, where either the bride or the bridegroom is a Dalit, to become eligible for a financial incentive of Rs 2.5 lakh.
The ‘Dr Ambedkar scheme for social Integration through inter caste marriage’, which was started in 2013 to promote inter-caste marriages, was till now applicable only for couples with a total annual income of Rs 5 lakh or lower.
The objective of the scheme is to “appreciate the socially bold step,” and to extend financial help to the couple to enable them to “settle down in the initial phase of their married life.”
The scheme targets at least 500 such marriages each year, though it has not crossed 100 in any year so far since its inception. Other eligibility criteria of the scheme is that the marriage should be registered under the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955.Other pre-conditions are that it should be their first marriage and the proposal should be submitted within a year of marriage.
According to a report by The Indian Express, the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, in a recent order to states, has directed that “the condition that …read more
