Bill seeks to limit guests, end lavish weddings

A bill in the Lok Sabha seeks to put a limit on the number of guests to be invited and dishes served at weddings to check the “show of wealth”.

It also wants those spending above Rs 5 lakh to contribute towards marriages of poor girls.

If a family spends more than Rs 5 lakh on a wedding, it has to contribute 10% of the amount on marriages of girls from poor families, according to the bill introduced by Congress MP Ranjeet Ranjan.

The Marriages (Compulsory Registration and Prevention of Wasteful Expenditure) Bill, 2016, may be taken up as a private member’s bill in the upcoming Lok Sabha session.

The purpose of this bill is to prohibit extravagant and wasteful expenditure on marriages and to enforce simpler solemnisation, said Ranjeet, wife of MP Pappu Yadav.

“Great importance should be assigned to the solemnisation of the marriage between two individuals. But unfortunately, these days a tendency of celebrating marriages with pomp and show and spending lavishly is growing in the country.

“These days, marriages are more about showing off your wealth, and as a result, poor families are under tremendous social pressure to spend more. This needs to be checked as it is not good for the society at large,” she said.

The bill stated that “if any family intends to spend more than Rs 5 lakh towards expenditure on a marriage, such a family shall declare the amount proposed to be spent in advance to the appropriate government and contribute 10% of such amount in a welfare fund, which shall be established by the appropriate government to assist the poor and Below Poverty Line families (BPL) for the marriage of their daughters”.

After this proposed legislation comes into force, all marriages shall be registered within 60 days of solemnisation, it said.

The government may fix the limit of guests and relatives and number of dishes to be served for the marriage or the reception held thereafter as it may deem necessary or expedient to prevent wastage of food items, the bill stated.