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. 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. The ministry also made it mandatory for the couples to submit their Aadhaar numbers and details of their Aadhaar-linked joint bank account. Although the Centre has target of 500 couples a year, it has never been met since the scheme was started in 2013.

Source: dna December 06, 2017 11:38 UTC