Bhubaneswar, 17th Aug : In a move to bringing down caste disparity, Odisha government has hiked incentives for inter-caste marriages.
The monetary assistance for inter-caste marriage government doubled the incentive from 50 thousand to Rs 1 lakh rupees, as per the notification issued by SC, ST Development, Minorities & Backward Classes Welfare Department Thursday.
The monetary assistance will be provided to the men and women who opt to marry outside their caste. The incentive is to couples for inter-caste marriages between the Scheduled Caste belonging to the hindu community and other caste-hindus was under consideration of the Government and the proposal was also discussed in the meeting of the Scheduled Caste Welfare Advisory Board held on June 2015, officials said.

Odisha government maintains that the cash incentive has been hiked to encourage inter-caste marriages to eradicate untouchablity while there will not be any income restriction in availing the benefit, the notification read.
As per norms, the couple shall have to apply for sanction and will have to execute a bond. The couple has to refund the amount within a year if its marriage ends in divorce within five years, sources said.