The department runs The Intercaste and Interfaith Marriage Incentive Scheme for which the state had allotted Rs 10 lakh in its latest budget.
“The department has received no such direction to either review or change the terms of the scheme in any way so far,” Kumar told ET.
Kumar said the scheme is not very popular as couples who marry outside their faith generally have to go against their parents’ wishes and often elope. A couple seeking to avail benefits of the scheme has to first apply with the district magistrate who then passes the details on to the department. “Couples believe involvement of the authorities could pose issues for them if they have been hiding their marriages and so they choose to not come forward,” he said. Last year, only 11 couples benefitted from the scheme. “Data for this year is not available yet,” said Kumar.
The new law in UP has prohibited religious conversion for the sole purpose of marriage. However, interfaith marriages can still take place using the civil route under the Special Marriages Act. However, critics said with the new legislation, the already dwindling number of beneficiaries may go down even further.
“I believe the state government will keep the scheme and not scrap it. The act has been passed with a different motive in mind — to check forced conversions, whereas the objective of the scheme is different,” said a senior government official.
The scheme, existing in both Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand since 1976, came to light after both the states heightened pitches for bringing in a law to curb the practice of the alleged “Love Jihad”. In the middle of such pitches by its state government, Uttarakhand’s social welfare department had released a list of 18 couples who had benefited from the scheme in the past one year. It should be noted that while Uttarakhand had passed the Freedom of Religion Law that also criminalises conversions taking place due to force or allurement in 2018, it did not scrap the scheme.