In Odisha, caste groups dictate terms in private affairs

These groups in Odisha’s Ganjam district have become politicised entities with brick-and-mortar offices, and have assumed the power to arrange marriages, impose penalty and issue boycott notices

Seven years on, Prabhanjan Pradhan, 38, a professor in a Mumbai college, has hardly received a guest back home in Purusottampur in Ganjam district of Odisha. His family has been ostracised by the All Odisha Banayat Odia Samaj (AOBOS), a Ganjam-based caste group, or kula samaj, as it is called locally.

His “fault” was that he chose to register his marriage, rather than loop in the Samaj members. The group also slapped a fine of ₹5,000 on him, which the professor refused to pay. Mr. Pradhan lodged a police complaint in the local police station, but nothing has come of this. “Why should my family suffer on the strength of an association that does not have any legal standing?” Mr. Pradhan asks, rhetorically.

There are more than a dozen caste groups in Ganjam district. They preside over marriage alliances, dictating dowry; make decisions on alimony in the case of a divorce; and impose penalty or issue notices of social isolation, if their orders are not followed. They have political affiliations, prey on fear, and often operate on public money, strengthening their bases over the past 10 to 15 years.

In 2016, up to 39 social boycott diktats were issued by the AOBOS in the Polasara region comprising parts of Beguniapada, Polasara, Kabisuryanagar, and Buguda of Ganjam district. The boycott orders were issued on the letterhead of the caste group.

Non-cooperation diktats are issued against both individuals and groups: “There are about 50 to 60 individuals facing it (in the community affiliated to them), and about 25 families,” said a former office bearer or the Nikhila Utkala Alia Khandayat Samaj (NUAKS).

“The adjudications of caste groups are medieval, feudal, and regressive. It is difficult for a family or two to cope when they are ousted from a community,” said Bhalachandra Shadangi, a social activist who has taken up many such issues with administration.

Caste groups maintain marriage registers documenting almost all weddings in their caste. Families need to fill a form that includes a list of household articles, details of the wedding feast, and dowry. The marriage must take place within six months, or the marriage stands “cancelled”.