Context: The Supreme Court in a judgement has said that Inter-caste marriages will possibly reduce caste and community tensions.

Background

• This judgement came on a petition filed by a girl who fled from Bengaluru to Delhi to marry a man who was from a different caste.
• The police officer on a complaint filed by her relatives directed the girl to leave her husband. However, she refused to comply with the statement that they were legally married by her choice.

Key Observations made by the Supreme Court

• The consent of the family or community is not necessary, once the two adult individuals agree to enter into a marriage. Their consent has to be given primacy.
• Educated youngsters are showing the way forward by tying the knot in inter-Caste-marriages. It will reduce caste and community tensions in India. Possibly, this is the way forward where caste and community tensions will reduce.
• The court also emphasized the need for specific guidelines and a training module for the police personnel. It will train them to handle cases of inter-caste marriage.
• The court quoted B.R. Ambedkar’s Annihilation of Caste in which he said, “I am convinced that the real remedy is intermarriage. The fusion of blood can alone create the feeling of being kith and kin, and unless this feeling of kinship, of being kindred, becomes paramount, the separatist feeling — the feeling of being aliens — created by caste will not vanish.”

Dr. Ambedkar Scheme for Social Integration through Inter-Caste Marriages

The scheme was launched in 2013 by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.

• Objective: This scheme was launched to extend the financial incentive to the intermarriage couples. It will enable them to settle down in the initial phase of their married life.
• Incentives: Every such couple that involves a Schedule Caste is eligible to get a one-time incentive of Rs 2.5 lakh from the Centre. It is Irrespective of their total annual income.