Inter-Caste Marriages in India: Has It Really Changed Over Time?

Kumudini Das, Pillai's College of Arts, Commerce and Science
Tarun K. Roy, International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS)
Pradeep Kumar Tripathy, Utkal University

Caste is an integral component of Indian society prevalent since thousands of years. It is an social evil which creates water tight compartment between communities and brings division, hatred and tension among various social groups. Marriages within the caste is the norm of the Indian society. To think of marriages between castes is a difficult and socially unacceptable proposition. The process of modernization, democratization and development has brought lots of positive changes in Indian society. The major objectives of the present study is to analyse the patterns and factors affecting inter-caste marriages in India. The study uses the data of recently concluded nationally representative National Family Health Survey(NFHS-3) having sample size of 32160 ever married women and their husbands. It is found that about 10 percent of the total marriages in India are between castes which is quite encouraging and a positive sign of change in the society.