Marriages are made in government schemes

Reporter’s Diary

For long, it was believed that marriages were made in heaven and celebrated on earth. No longer so, with the government directly or indirectly deciding who should get married to whom, or rather, who should not get married to whom.

It is not the hullabaloo over ‘love jihad’ that we are talking about, but two marriage schemes for poor brahmin women, announced by the Karnataka government, which effectively shuts the lid on love, inter-caste or even re-marriages.

Piloted by the Karnataka Brahmin Development Board, the first scheme, Arundathi, provides an assistance of Rs 25,000 to ‘deserving’ brides, while the second, Maitreyi, offers a financial bond of Rs 3 lakh to a brahmin girl for marrying an economically backward brahmin priest.

Ironically, it is the same Yediyurappa government which had scrapped the Bidaai scheme, popularly called Shaadi Bhagya, launched by the Siddaramaiah regime, on the ground that it amounted to appeasement of minorities. Contrary to what was projected by critics, this scheme, under which poor minority women were provided a financial assistance of Rs 50,000 for their marriage, was not limited to Muslims alone, but also covered Jain, Christian, Buddhist, Sikh and Parsi women.

While the Centre, with a view to encouraging inter-caste marriages, offers an incentive of Rs 2.5 lakh if either of the couple is a Dalit, irrespective of their income, the Arundathi scheme mandates that a brahmin girl should marry only within the community to be eligible for the grant. Forget for a moment, a poor girl intending to marry a Muslim or a Christian, but what if she falls in love with a fellow Hindu, say, a Vokkaliga or a Lingayat? Sorry, no incentive. Should the government really be bothered about who a girl chooses to marry?

If you think that the scheme is retrograde and repugnant, wait, there is more: Only those marrying for the first time will be eligible for the incentive. Our forefathers who relentlessly fought against social evils like prohibition of widow remarriage must be rolling in their graves.

Shaadi Bhagya, on the other hand, was more progressive as even widows and divorcees were entitled to a one-time grant. The Arundathi scheme would have been more meaningful had the government worked towards the emancipation of widows and divorcees by encouraging their remarriage. The exclusion of these sections raises doubts that the government is wantonly pandering to the regressive male mindset that has failed to adapt to changing times, even after centuries. Perhaps, it would have made more sense if this amount was earmarked for education of the girl child.

Under the Maitreyi scheme, the government has arrogated to itself the role of a matchmaker for poor priests. Here, the Rs 3 lakh allowance will be released in instalments provided the couple remains married for at least three years. Now, imagine the outrage if a similar incentive was announced for marrying a Mullah or a Padre.

Given Yediyurappa’s penchant for caste-based development boards, the day is not far when each of them will announce schemes to encourage marriages within their own community to maintain the ‘purity of stock’. But why should we taxpayers bear the expense?

Today, as we build walls between us in the name of caste and community, we would do well to recall Karnataka’s Poet Laureate Kuvempu’s immortal poem, ‘O Nanna Chethana, Aagu Nee Anikethana’, in which he gives a clarion call to transcend all barriers by breaking free from the myriad shackles that bind us down. We, however, seem to be more satisfied in proving Rousseau right: “Man is born free, but everywhere is in chains.”