The government of Haryana has announced to reward couples who enter into inter-caste marriages. Those opting for such marriages in the state would be given an incentive of Rs 50,000 each by the state government under a special scheme. Either of the newly-weds has to be from Haryana to qualify for the bounty that they would be entitled to within a year of their marriage. One such couple is Veer Singh of Bachod village in Mahendergarh district and Renu of Ghaziabad of Uttar Pradesh. Coming from different castes, the duo decided to break the barrier of casteism by tying the nuptial knot. The Narnaul district administration accepted their application this week under the inter-caste marriage scheme and decided to give them Rs 50,000 within a month.
Haryana incidentally has recorded an unusually high number of honour killings, where youths entering into inter-caste marriages have been the main victims. According to police, eight such incidents had been recorded during the last six months alone. The trend has been widely prevalent in the Jat heartlands of the state which includes districts like Rohtak, Sirsa, Rewari and Fatehabad. Haryana finance minister Birender Singh blamed the social structure largely for the malaise and said the government scheme would only provide “courage and incentive” to youths daring to break social barriers.