Couples keen to tie the knot in Goa may soon have to undergo a compulsory pre-marriage counselling course, Law Minister Nilesh Cabral said on Monday. Cabral said that the policy was necessitated to counter the trend of quick divorces, sometimes within six months to one year of marriage, he said.
Addressing a press conference at the state Secretariat, Cabral also said that religious institutions would also be allowed to conduct pre-marriage counselling courses, a format for which would be prepared by the state government.
"The number of cases (divorce) have increased a lot. So much so that there are many divorces in six months to one year. It is so fast. As a policy, the state registrars and other registrars, we thought that pre counselling should be made compulsory before marriage to make them aware..." Cabral told media persons. He however conceded that he was not in a position to say how many divorces applications were received by the state on a monthly basis.
"We are starting the course with the help of GIPARD. It is not that we alone will do it (pre-marriage counselling), religious institutions are also welcome. They can also be trained to do this course," the Law Minister said.
Cabral said that the quick divorce trend was a new one and was not a serious problem in the past.
"I dont have the exact number of divorce cases of divorse per month. Earlier there were not many cases. The number has increased now. Olden days, 10 years down the line, 14 years down the line, there weren't so many cases. But now cases are increasing. This is a collective decision taken by us," Cabral said.
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