The Uttar Pradesh government is mulling a raise in the incentive offered to people opting for inter-caste and inter-religion marriages.
The government has realised the scheme introduced nearly three decades ago has failed to evoke the desired response in a state where caste and religious factors bind people to the extent that they are unwilling to defy established social taboos.
"Only a handful of people have come forward in all these years to break out of the shackles of caste and religion, incentives notwithstanding," a senior official at the state's social welfare department told IANS.
"The government had fixed an incentive of Rs.5,000 for every inter-caste marriage provided one of the partners belonged to a scheduled caste. However, there was no rider attached to inter-religion marriages," he said.
"The government is thinking of raising this amount to Rs.10,000, besides offering an interest-free loan of up to Rs.15,000."
The original scheme launched in India's most populous state 28 years ago had failed to make any headway, largely because of the amount and for lack of adequate publicity.
"Perhaps creating greater awareness about the scheme would make more couples to come forward," the official noted. He was also optimistic of a better response from rural areas where the scheme remained a non-starter.
While there are no official records for the 1970s and the 1980s, the past decade's statistics portray a dismal picture. Only 26 people opted for inter-caste and inter-religion marriages in 1999-2000, 25 in 2000-2001 and 16 each in 2001-2002 and 2002-2003.
There has been no report of inter-caste or inter-religion marriages subsequently.