Very interesting! Never heard of it before.
Points, once again, to bribery, as a means for solving desi-problems. Surely bribery has been the 'mokordhwaaj' ( panacea) for everything else. Why not breaking caste-barriers? Also it is another stark reminder of Hindu intelligentsia's abject failure in contributing anything towards modernizing their society. Anyway, your question is very valid, Santanu. Add to that another: Would it also NOT contribute towards perpetuating and encouraging bride abuse, considering that dowry related abuse,is already so pervasive in these same societies? Rs. 50K may sound paltry to urban Indian professionals or businessmen, but in rural India it still remains a huge amount. Certainly it would be an incentive to many. But what if after the money is spent, and the old stigmas and social pressures, including ostracization, haunt the newlyweds and lead to desertion if not divorce? It is at best, a desperate attempt, but fraught with even worse consequences than it hopes to eradicate. At 11:09 PM -0500 9/14/06, Roy, Santanu wrote: >The Indian government apparently wants to pay people for marrying >into the two "lowest castes" (of each state). >http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/5346720.stm >Question: >If these financial incentives work (i.e., encourage more people to >marry into these lower castes than would be the case if such >incentives were not in place), then would not money be the critical >factor causing these additional marriages (almost by definition) & >if so, is it socially desirable to have these additional marriages >take place? >Santanu. > > > >_______________________________________________ >assam mailing list >[email protected] >http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org _______________________________________________ assam mailing list [email protected] http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org
