3,003 couples tie knot at govt’s mass wedding event
Hapur resident Madhu Bala lost her husband to a severe ailment seven years ago and by then, his treatment has depleted all her savings. During the pandemic in 2020, she managed to her older daughter married, but her worries continued as she couldn’t get her second 22-year-old daughter married, owing to financial constraints.
This year, she got her younger daughter Payal registered with the Ghaziabad district administration for a mass wedding event that took place on Thursday at the Kamla Nehru Nagar ground. Payal was one of 3,003 women from poor families who tied the knot at the event on Thursday. All arrangements such as food, music, pandals, priests, maulvis, and wedding kits were made by the state government.
“My first daughter got married in a very simple manner and five people from the groom’s family came and performed the rituals. All my savings was spent on my husband’s treatment. Still, my worries continued as my other daughter could not get married. Then someone told me about the mass marriage event. We chose a groom for my daughter and they finally tied the knot on Thursday,” Madhu Bala said.
Uttar Pradesh’s labour minister Anil Rajbhar, Ghaziabad MP general (retd) VK Singh, Ghaziabad MLAS, mayor and other officials of the district administration and the police took part in the celebrations.
“My mother could not afford the wedding expenses and this event took a huge load off her shoulders. The priest, pandal, music, food and other facilities were provided by the government. Even selfie points were set up for couples to get their pictures clicked. Further, my mother would also get ₹75,000 from the government,” Payal said.
The pandal was abuzz with activity since Thursday morning as priests from different communities performed the marriage rituals and families came together to shower their blessings on the newlyweds. Four selfie points were also created while a mega pandal was also reserved for lunch for the families.
According to district officials figures, 1,848 Hindu women and 1,147 Muslim women got married in the mass event on Thursday. The couples are mostly from three western Uttar Pradesh districts of Ghaziabad, Hapur and Bulandshahr.
“The positive part of the event was that the brides’ families had to make no arrangements or pay a dowry. The event was a major help for families who have no monetary resources. My family chose the groom for me and we amicably decided to get married. There was no financial burden on the two families,” said Kusum, 21, who married a man from Bulandshahr.
The officials said this was second such event in Ghaziabad -the first one was held last year and 2,300 women got married in that event.
“The entire event has cost the government about ₹1 crore and this included wedding kit for brides and grooms, lunch for their families, priests for performing their marriages as per their faith and other arrangements. About ₹22 crore was also credited to the account of parents of all brides,” said Ravi Srivastava, deputy labour commissioner.
“We all came here to offer blessings to the couples and such an event is also scheduled in Ayodhya. We expect that in the next five years, we will be able to perform the weddings of about one million daughters,” Rajbhar said.
The entire event has cost the government about ₹1 crore. ₹22 crore was also credited to the accounts of parents of brides. RAVI SRIVASTAVA, deputy labour commissioner