The India Human Development Survey [IHDS], conducted by the National Council for Applied Economic Research [NCAER] and the University of Maryland reported that just five per cent of Indians said they had married a person from a different caste and in a mere shocking about 30 per cent of rural and 20 per cent of urban households said they practised untouchability.

Inter-caste marriages were rarest in Madhya Pradesh under 1 per cent and most common in Gujarat and Bihar with over 11 per cent. The untouchability practice was most common among Brahmins (62 per cent in rural India, 39 per cent in urban), followed by Other Backward Classes (OBCs) and then non-Brahmin forward castes.

The IHDS is the largest non-government, pan-Indian household survey and married women aged between 15 and 49 were asked if theirs was an inter-caste marriage, just 5.4 per cent said yes.

- TVR