Lucknow. The government has set a target of conducting mass marriages of 1,06,911 couples this year. Also, the Social Welfare Department has issued SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) to bring more transparency in the mass marriage scheme. Under this, the presence of the District Magistrate has been made mandatory at the venues where more than 100 couples are getting married at one place in the districts.
The Deputy Director of the Division and the District Social Welfare Officer of the nearby district will also be present on the spot. Also, separate registration counters will be set up to confirm the eligible couples at the time of the event.
The application will be valid with digital signature
Provisions have been made for the verification of 10 percent of the couples selected for marriage by the officers of the Revenue or other department on the instructions of the District Magistrate. The district level committee has been given the responsibility to strengthen the investigation process.
During the investigation, it will be confirmed from the persons present on the spot that they have not been married before. Along with strengthening the verification process, now only the applications approved by the concerned Block Development Officer, Executive Officer and District Social Welfare Officer with digital signature will be considered valid.
On conducting a mass marriage, an assistance amount of Rs. 35,000 is transferred to the girl’s account. At the same time, marriage material worth Rs. 10,000 for essential items and Rs. 5,000 in case of widow and divorcee is provided at the time of marriage.
