In order to combat increasing divorce cases in Kerala, a panchayat has launched a programme for providing pre- and post-marital counselling service to young couples.
The Peruvayal panchayat near Mavoor on the suburbs of Kozhikode in north Kerala launched the counselling service, considered to be the first such initiative by a panchayat in the state.
The panchayat is insisting that all couples who turn up for registering marriage should undergo counselling. Professional counsellors are also appointed for the purpose.
The panchayat vice president Aneesh Palat told DH that the increasing number of divorces in the state have prompted the panchayat to initiate such a programme. "We came across many instances of young couple breaking up over silly matters. Lack of counselling was found to be the reason and hence the panchayat initiated the pre and post marriage counselling service," he said.
The panchayat formally launched the programme on December 30 after holding talks with religious heads and political leaders of the region. Already enquiries started coming, he said.
Kerala is one of the top states with regard to pendency of divorces cases, even though the state only has around three percent of the country's population. As of 2018 a total of 65,632 divorce cases were pending in courts in Kerala, which was second after Uttar Pradesh where 2.7 lakh divorce cases.
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