Government In Karnataka Plans Mass Marriage For Schedule Caste
Update: 2022-07-27 10:30 IST
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The Karnataka state administration intends to win Schedule Caste voters ahead of the 2023 Assembly elections by holding a mass marriage ceremony for them called "Shubha Lagna."
In 2020, while BS Yediyurappa was the chief minister, Saptapadi, another mass marriage plan, was put on hold due to the two-year Covid epidemic. The programme was reintroduced last year, and as part of it, the bride receives a silk saree, Rs 1,000 in cash, and 8 gm of gold for the mangalsutra, while the bridegroom receives a shirt and a dhoti. The Endowments Ministry, then led by Kota Shrinivas Poojari, organised Saptapadi.
A similar scheme called Shubha Lagna, which will be run by the Social Welfare Department, offers further advantages to the bride and groom. The majority of the state's 28 to 30 lakh SC family members fall into the economically poorer group.Like in Saptapadi, the bride and husband will receive gold and clothing under Shubha Lagna. But they also intend to provide them money in the form of a fixed deposit, which will be beneficial to them in the long run. The sources stated that these are preliminary plans.
Shubha Lagna is exclusively applicable to members of the SC communities, but Saptapadi is applicable to all eligible brides and grooms under the Hindu Act. The sources cited the difficulties by noting that the SC has hundreds of subcastes, each of which has its own wedding customs.
He continued that they are unable to plan particular weddings according to their subcastes. Along with the registration of marriages, the programme will also include a straightforward and customary rite. During the ceremony, food will also be offered.
The department may first select 100 individuals from each district, totaling 3,000 individuals throughout the state. The total may change. The cost, according to their estimates, will be close to Rs 35 crore annually, and the Finance Department must approve it.
According to Poojari, who is now the minister of social welfare, and it will be considered with the chief minister Basavaraj Bommai. He continued that their government is concerned with the wellbeing of the underprivileged and the impoverished.