District administration to promote mass marriages

The district administration has decided to promote community marriages, particularly in rural areas, to ensure that farmers do not spend a large amount on weddings of their children by taking loans.

C. Shikha, Deputy Commissioner of Mysuru district, told The Hindu here on Thursday that the administration was planning to use community halls coming under different departments to perform mass weddings. The district administration would soon list the halls available with different departments and prepare them to conduct weddings.

Families can also avail the services of priests at a minimum expenditure. The administration is planning ways to convince people, particularly farmers, about mass weddings. Once the plan is prepared, farmers would be asked to register the date of wedding along with certificates of age of the bride and groom, she said.

The district administration has realised that many farmers were arranging weddings by spending huge amounts, borrowing from moneylenders, or pledging their gold ornaments or house.

Ms. Shikha said the administration plans to caution the moneylenders against charging exorbitant rates of interest. Charging a high rate of interest and harassing farmers to repay the loan or interest is an offence, and if a farmer commits suicide because of the harassment of a moneylender it amounts to abetment to suicide, she said.

The DC said she would hold one more meeting with bankers and ask them to disperse loans to farmers as early as possible. Meanwhile, K.N. Shivalingaiah, Chief Manager, State Bank of Mysore, also the district lead bank, told

The Hindu that banks have simplified the procedures of lending to farmers at the behest of the Reserve Bank of India.

Charging a high rate of interest and harassing farmers to repay the loan or interest is an offence. If a farmer commits suicide because of such harassment then it amounts to abetment to suicide.

C. Shikha

Deputy Commissioner, Mysuru