A Bill in the Lok Sabha seeks to put a limit on the number of guests to be invited and dishes to be served in weddings to check “show of wealth” and wants those spending above ₹5 lakh to contribute towards marriages of poor girls.
If a family spends above ₹5 lakh on a wedding, it has to contribute 10% of the amount on marriages of girls from poor families, according to the Bill introduced by Congress MP Ranjeet Ranjan, wife of MP Pappu Yadav.
Private member Bill
The Marriages (Compulsory Registration and Prevention of Wasteful Expenditure) Bill, 2016, may be taken up as a private member’s Bill in the coming session.
The purpose of this Bill is to prohibit extravagant and wasteful expenditure on marriages and to enforce simpler solemnisation, Ranjeet told PTI.
“Great importance should be assigned to the solemnisation of marriage between two individuals. But unfortunately, these days, a tendency of celebrating marriages with pomp and show and spending lavishly growing in the country.
“These days, marriages are more about showing off your wealth and as a result, poor families are under tremendous social pressure to spend more. This is needed to be checked as it is not good for society at large,” she said.
Welfare fund
The Bill seeks that “if any family intends to spend more than ₹5 lakh towards expenditure on marriage, such family shall declare the amount proposed to be spent in advance to the appropriate government and contribute 10% of such amount in a welfare fund which shall be established by the appropriate government to assist the poor and Below Poverty Line families for the marriage of their daughters.”
It says that after this proposed legislation comes into force, all marriages should be registered within 60 days of the solemnisation.
