Inter caste marriage

“There is a circular of the Ministry of Home Affairs in this regard. According to this, the child of either parent belonging to the reserved category can get the certificate (of reserved category), if he or she chooses to take one.... The Constitution does not discriminate on the basis of gender,” Kumar said. The Minister was speaking to reporters after a meeting to review the status and implementation of the Protection of Civil Rights Act and the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act in the country. Kumar’s statement assumes significance, as the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) had disfavoured twice the proposals of her Ministry for a Constitutional amendment to give SC status to children according to the mother’s lineage also. “Couples who go for inter-caste marriage should get encouragement,” she added. 
The Ministry has written to all state governments for increasing the incentive for inter-caste marriages to Rs 50,000. While Goa has gone ahead and raised the incentive to Rs 1 lakh, states like Kerala have kept it at Rs 20,000.
Scholarships for non-SC/ST people involved in menial jobs like scavenging, tanning and flaying have been increased, and the Ministry will give out the entire amount.
The Ministry is also planning to amend the Protection of Civil Rights (PCR) and Prevention of Atrocities (POA) acts and make them more stringent. Kumar also criticised Gujarat and Kerala for their poor record in registration and acquittal of cases under PCR and POA. “The average number of cases of atrocities per lakh of SC population is higher in Gujarat than all-India average; in the case of ST atrocities, Kerala leaves national figures far behind,” said Kumar.
The Ministry has also asked the state service commissions to introduce a compulsory paper on PCR and POA acts in their examination syllabus.