Married couples made to marry again at mass wedding in UP

In an alleged bid to meet the target set by the administration under the Chief Minister Mass Marriage Scheme, around a dozen couple, who were already married, were made to tie the nuptial knot again in Uttar Pradesh's Baghpat district.

The mass wedding ceremony was held a couple of days back in which 92 couples took the wedding vows.

It later turned out that several couples at the ceremony were already married and that they had been included only to meet the target.

A probe has been ordered into the matter by the district authorities. ''We will take stern action against the guilty,'' said a senior district official in Baghpat on Friday.

Under the scheme, the government bears the expenditure incurred on the weddings of widows, divorces, daughters of the widows and daughters of differently abled parents.

According to the sources the government had planned to conduct mass weddings for 101 brides and grooms under the scheme in every district a few months back. The program had to be deferred at many places as barely a handful applicants got themselves registered.

In the state capital, every block development officer had been asked to get at least ten applicants register under the scheme failing which action could be taken against him.