Siddhant Babu at 13:30, 19 February 2026

2026-02-19T13:30:20Z

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{{short description|Marriages between two people of separate social classifications in India}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2022}}
{{Use Indian English|date=May 2022}}

The '''[[inter-caste marriage]]s in [[India]]''' have been gradually gaining acceptance due to increasing education, employment, middle-class economic background, and urbanisation {{citation needed|date=January 2023}}. As of the 2011 census, 5.8% of the marriages in India were inter-caste marriages.<ref name="Business Standard">{{cite news|url=https://www.business-standard.com/article-amp/current-affairs/inter-caste-marriages-depend-on-education-level-but-not-that-of-the-couple-118102200084_1.html|title=Inter-caste marriages depend on education level, but not that of the couple|author=Tish Sanghera|date=22 October 2020|newspaper=Business Standard|access-date=19 October 2020}}</ref><ref>[http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/caste-no-bar-in-words-if-not-in-action/article4989269.ece thehindu.com: 'Caste no bar', in words if not in action]</ref>

In India, inter-caste marriages were publicly encouraged and supported by the incumbent government under [[Narendra Modi]] by the offering of financial encouragement to those who marry people from lower castes.<ref name="Financial Express">{{Cite news|url=https://www.financialexpress.com/india-news/modi-government-push-for-inter-caste-marriages-offers-rs-2-5-lakh-for-marrying-dalit/962848/lite/|title=Modi government push for inter-caste marriages; offers Rs 2.5 lakh for marrying Dalit|date=6 December 2017|newspaper=Financial Express|access-date=19 October 2020}}</ref> The practice was also promoted by [[C. N. Annadurai]], the former Chief Minister of [[Tamil Nadu]],<ref>{{Cite news|title = Love in the time of caste|url = http://www.thehindu.com/features/the-yin-thing/love-in-the-time-of-caste/article4960041.ece|newspaper = The Hindu|date = 2013-07-27|access-date = 2015-11-06|issn = 0971-751X|language = en-IN}}</ref> and social activists such as [[Periyar E. V. Ramasamy]],<ref name="Anita Diehl 1977">Anita Diehl. (1977). E. V. Ramaswami Periyar. ''A study of the influence of a personality in contemporary South India'', Scandinavian University Books: Sweden. {{ISBN|91-24-27645-6}}.</ref>{{request quote|date=August 2021}} [[Raghupathi Venkataratnam Naidu]]{{citation needed|date=September 2011}} and [[Manthena Venkata Raju]].{{citation needed|date=September 2011}} In the North Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, the Government offers a cash award for inter-caste couples.<ref>[https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-news-from-elsewhere-31037159 bbc.com: India: Cash reward offered for inter-caste marriages]</ref> The Supreme Court of India has also declared that inter-caste marriages are in the national interest and a unifying factor for the nation<ref>{{Cite web|url = http://www.lawyerscollective.org/news/archived-news-a-articles/115-inter-caste-marriages-in-national-interest-sc.html|title = Lawyer's Collective|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150910230115/http://www.lawyerscollective.org/news/archived-news-a-articles/115-inter-caste-marriages-in-national-interest-sc.html|archive-date = 2015-09-10|url-status = dead}}</ref> and there has never been a bar on inter-caste or inter-religion marriages in independent India.<ref>{{Cite web|url = http://infochangeindia.org/women/195-women/judicial-interventions-and-women/5534-love-inter-caste-marriage-and-criminal-law|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20171002045307/http://infochangeindia.org/women/195-women/judicial-interventions-and-women/5534-love-inter-caste-marriage-and-criminal-law|url-status = usurped|archive-date = 2 October 2017|title = Infochange India}}</ref>{{Failed verification|date=August 2025|talk="…there has never been a bar on inter-caste or inter-religion marriages in independent India."}}

In 2017, the Prime minister [[Narendra Modi]] started a scheme in which 2.5 [[lakh]], that is 250,000 rupees will be given to inter-caste couples if one of them is a [[Dalit]].<ref name="Financial Express"/>

==Statistics and surveys==
According to the 2017 Study conducted by the Indian Statistical Institute, inter-caste marriages are more frequent in Rural areas (5.2%) than Urban areas (4.9%). The Survey also found that the inter-caste marriages are more common among poor people (5.9%) than rich people (4.0%).<ref name="Business Standard"/>

According to the Studies conducted by the National Council of Applied Economic Research in 2016, about 5% of the marriages in India are inter-caste marriages. [[Mizoram]] had the highest number of inter-caste marriages, where about 55% of the marriages were inter-caste marriages and [[Madhya Pradesh]] had the lowest number of inter-caste marriages, where only 1% of the marriages were inter-caste marriage.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://thewire.in/uncategorised/mizoram-has-highest-number-of-inter-caste-marriages-in-india-with-55|title=Mizoram Has Highest Number of Inter-Caste Marriages in India With 55%|date=11 May 2016|newspaper=The Wire|author=Prachi Salve and Saumya Tewari|access-date=4 November 2020}}</ref>

According to a survey, the education of the husband's mother has a significant effect on inter-caste marriages. The probability of inter-caste marriages was found to increase by 36% with a 10-year increase in education of the husband's mother.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://theprint.in/opinion/inter-caste-marriage-india-groom-mother-educated-study/526481/?amp|title=Chances of an inter-caste marriage go up if groom's mother is educated, study|author=ARKA ROY CHAUDHURI, TRIDIP RAY and KOMAL SAHAI|date=20 October 2020|access-date=20 October 2020}}</ref>{{Dubious|date=January 2022}}

In a 2010 report, the [[National Commission for Women]] (NCW) documented 326 cases of [[honour_killing|honour crime]] in the past year, the majority of which were due to [[inter-caste marriage]]s.<ref>{{cite news|last=Tandon |first=Aditi |title=Inter-caste ties behind most honour crimes. Just 3% cases due to same gotra marriages, says new survey |url=http://www.tribuneindia.com/2010/20100706/main1.htm |access-date=14 February 2015 |work=[[The Tribune (India)]] |date=5 July 2010}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Caste system in India]]
* [[Endogamy]]
* [[Hypergamy]]
* [[Inter-caste marriage in Nepal]]
* [[Jāti]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/inter-caste-marriages-the-way-forward-to-reduce-communal-tensions-supreme-court/article33819146.ece Inter-caste marriages the way forward to reduce communal tensions: Supreme Court ]

{{Types of marriages|state=autocollapse}}

[[Category:Marriage in India]]
[[Category:Caste system in India]]
[[Category:Morganatic marriage]]

Inter-caste marriage in India - Revision history

Siddhant Babu at 13:30, 19 February 2026