Evaluation Study on Inter Caste Marriage in Assam

Abstract

Traditionally, marriage in Hindu society was a sacrament but after the passage of Hindu Marriage Act 1955 it can be treated as a contract. The caste in Indian society is still the most powerful factor in determining dignity of a man, calling and profession.Still marriages primarily take place on the traditional grounds of Jatis, caste and Up Jati, sub caste. That means marriage is inextricably linked to Jati Vyavastha caste system with its roots in the religion. In such circumstances, inter caste marriages can be one of the significant steps to reduce the caste prejudices, abolish untouchability and spread the values of liberty, equality, fraternity etc in the society. For the same purpose Govt of India introduced an Inter caste marriage scheme where one of the spouses must be belong to Scheduled Caste and the other has to be from Non Scheduled Caste communities. The scheme will extend financial incentive to the couple to enable them to settle down in the initial phase of their married life. Like other parts of India, in Assam also this Inter Caste marriage scheme was run by the Department of Welfare of Plain Tribals, Government of Assam. As per the Government of India directive Tribal Institute of Assam has taken up the responsibility of evaluating the scheme for successful implementation of the scheme. A total of 17 district of Assam are selected for the study. In this study, the base year is taken as 1984 to know the impact of inter cast marriage on the off springs of the married couple. Twenty percent of the total beneficiaries of the scheme are selected for the study. The report provided recommendation and necessary suggestions to achieve the Government objective of encouraging Inter caste marriage. The districts selected for the study are Barpeta, Cachar, Darrang, Dhubri, Goalpara, Golaghat, Jorhat, Kamrup, Karbi Anglong, Kokrajhar, Lakhimpur, Morigaon, Nagaon, Nalbari, Sivasagar, Sonitpur, Tinsukia.