Lavish weddings are extremely common nowadays; families spend crores of rupees to make the weddings look grand and extravagant. No matter how much money or food is wasted in these marriages, the only intention is to “Show off wealth”. Rich people leave no stone unturned to host impressive ceremonies; however, with this new bill proposed in the Lok Sabha, things might change very soon.
A new bill has been introduced in the Lok Sabha and it seeks to limit the guest list and dishes served in the weddings. The motive of this bill is checking the “Show of wealth”; those who are found spending above Rs 5 lakhs in the wedding would have to contribute 10 percent of the amount for marriages of poor girls. For example, if you spend Rs 5 lakhs, an amount of Rs 50,000 has to be contributed for marriages of poor girls.
It reads
“If any family intends to spend more than Rs 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 per cent 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”.
The Marriages (Compulsory Registration and Prevention of Wasteful Expenditure) Bill, 2016 was introduced by Ranjeet Ranjan (Congress MP), MP Pappu Yadav’s wife, and might be discussed in the upcoming parliament session.
According to reports, Ranjeet said that the actual purpose of this bill is simplifying solemnization and curbing wasteful expenditure, which could otherwise be utilized for betterment of the poor.
Ranjeet said
“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.”
She has a valid point; nowadays, marriages are only about show off and this is creating a lot of pressure on families who can’t afford it, don’t you agree with her?
This is indeed a great move; if this bill is passed, lot of wastage will be curbed. It is also said that if this proposed bill gets a nod, marriages will be registered within 60 days of solemnization.
This is favorable for middle class families who can’t afford lavish affairs. Even if rich people want to spend, they will have to contribute 10 percent to poor girls’ marriages, which is once again a plus point for the society. Let’s wait and see what happens next.
