UPSC Mains 2024 GS1 Q9: model answer
Intercaste marriages between castes which have socio-economic parity have increased, to some extent, but this is less true of interreligious marriages. Discuss.
What the question wants
Explain why intercaste marriages among similar-status castes rise while interreligious ones remain rare.
How to structure it
Intro: data. Body: reasons for intercaste rise; reasons for interreligious resistance; State role. Conclusion.
- 1Reasons for intercaste rise
- 2Reasons for interreligious resistance
- 3State role
Model answer
Marriage remains Indian society's firmest boundary. The India Human Development Survey found only about 5% of marriages intercaste and around 2% interreligious.
Why intercaste marriages rise, mostly between equals
- Urbanisation, education and shared workplaces widen contact.
- Families accept a partner of similar class from another caste more easily; marriages across wide gaps, especially with Dalits, still meet violence.
- Incentives such as the Dr. Ambedkar Scheme for Social Integration through Inter-Caste Marriages.
Why interreligious marriages stay rare
- Religion carries community identity, personal law and conversion questions.
- Political mobilisation and anti-conversion laws in several States.
- The Special Marriage Act's 30-day public notice exposes couples to pressure.
- Residential segregation limits contact.
Courts have backed adult choice in Lata Singh (2006) and Shafin Jahan (2018). Class mobility is softening caste lines faster than religious ones; social acceptance will set the pace.
Keywords, cases and data to drop in
endogamy IHDS Special Marriage Act anti-conversion laws Shafin Jahan
Where most answers lose marks
- Unsourced statistics.
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Question text as printed in the official UPSC question paper: https://www.upsc.gov.in/sites/default/files/QP_CSM_2024_GenStud_I_03102024.pdf The model answer is original Battle IAS work; use it to learn structure, not to memorise.