Karnataka: Red tape hinders aid for inter-caste marriages involving SCs

Over 63% applicants in 2025-26 yet to receive incentive

A progressive scheme to encourage inter-caste marriages involving Scheduled Caste persons by providing financial incentive has failed to take off effectively due to administrative roadblocks and bureaucratic inertia.

In 2025-26 alone, over 63 per cent of the applicants (3,319 out of a total 5,210 applications) who applied for the incentive are yet to get their first-instalment payments. The full amount has been sanctioned to merely 27 applicants (0.51 per cent).

Though the pendency is much lesser for previous years, it still stands at a significant 1,492 of the 5,137 applications (29.04 per cent). An assessment of the entire data from 2015-16 (till Feb 28) shows that 5,591 applicants are yet to get their first instalment, including 9 applications submitted as far back as 2017-18.

Under the scheme, the couple gets Rs 3 lakh when an SC woman marries a non-SC man, while the couple gets an incentive of Rs 2.5 lakh when an SC man marries a non-SC girl (the woman should be aged between 18-42 years, the man should be 21-45 and their joint income per year shouldn’t cross Rs 5 lakh). 

According to sources, most of the inter-caste marriages involving an SC person are when the man is from the SC community.  To encourage SC women to also marry outside the caste, a higher incentive has been allocated for such instances, they said.

In the interim 2018-19 Budget, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah (then in his first term) had announced to increase the incentive to Rs 3 lakh when the man is from the SC community, and
Rs 5 lakh when the woman is from the SC community. However, this has not yet materialised.

At present, the money is provided in two instalments — Rs 1.5 lakh each (when girl is from SC community), and Rs 1.25 lakh each (when man is from the SC community).

While one half will be transferred through RTGS/NEFT to a joint account in the name of the couple, the second half will be provided through fixed deposit, which the couple cannot use for three years.

Puneeth, an applicant from Kallanduru in Kolar taluk, said he had applied 3-4 months ago, but was yet to get his first instalment. 

Kumari (name changed) said her sister, a resident of Mysuru, had applied for the scheme around 9-10 months ago, but hadn’t got any money yet.

“The application has been verified, but the department staff tell us they don’t have funds. My sister applied in 2025-26, but even many who applied in 2024-25 are yet to get the money”.

The funding for the scheme is shared between the union and state governments at 50:50 ratio. According to an official in the social welfare department, the dues were due to non-payment of grants by the union government.

“Recently, limited grants were released by the union government (around 4 crore), follwing which we cleared some of the earlier dues. As and when the grants flow in, the remaining dues will be cleared,” the official added.

A senior offical said corruption denied the benefit to many genuine applicants, while bureaucratic roadblocks kept delaying it indefinitely.

“Once the couple submits an application, SWD officials have to update it on the software. At this level, there is lot of corruption. Secondly, the process demands a host of documents and details. It also includes physical verification by department officials at the couple’s residence. These processes sometimes take around 6 months, thus delaying fund disbursal.”

The friction with the union government adds another layer to the problems.

The official called for greater coordination between the union and state governments.

Karnataka also has a scheme providing Rs 2 lakh for intra-caste marriages within SCs. The measure is aimed at promoting such marriages, which are quite rare.

Under this, 970 out of 3,566 applications (27.2 per cent) from 2017-18 to 2025-26 are still pending.