Temples tied up in knots with Saptapadi free mass marriage scheme

The government’s ambitious Saptapadi Vivaha Yojana to conduct free mass marriages of couples from low-income families seems to be tied up in knots. 

Most of the ‘A’ grade temples identified for conducting the weddings are not showing keen interest due to various factors including funds crunch, burden of documentation verification, work load of other religious activities and staff shortage.

Only around 900 weddings have been performed since the launch of the scheme by the then BJP government in 2020.

The government has identified 100 ‘A’ grade temples coming under the Muzarai department to organise the marriages.

Of these, only 21 temples have performed free mass weddings under the scheme, according to the department.

The bride is provided wedding clothes, 8 gm of gold for mangalasutra, while the groom gets shirt and dhoti as part of the scheme.

Though the budget is Rs 65,000 for each couple, ‘A’ grade temples would end up spending nearly Rs 1 lakh for each couple, given the rising gold prices and the expenses on providing meals to attendees. A majority of these temples are reluctant given that they are struggling to meet expenses on maintenance and staff salaries, with the less income they get via offerings from devotees.   

Mass weddings also involve collection of documents, including age proofs, of the brides and the grooms. The cumbersome task adds to the work load of the staff.

“We have performed mass marriages of only 10 couples since the start of the scheme as it involves lot of expenditure. We cancelled ceremonies of over 150 couples due to election code of conduct. Moreover, we have to face court cases in case of divorce, dispute among couples over property as they would have married by printing wedding cards in the name of the temple,” said Nagaratna Cholin, deputy secretary of Renuka Yellamma Temple Development Authority at Saundatti in Belagavi district.

H K Raghu, executive officer of Kengal Anjaneya Swamy temple in Channapatna taluk in Ramanagara district, said they had performed free marriages of only three couples owing to 50% staff crunch, funds shortage and burden of other religious activities. 

Minister for Muzrai Ramalinga Reddy said the government would reimburse Rs 65,000 for each couple getting hitched at temples which are facing shortage of funds. 

“Circulars have been sent to them in this regard. The government will provide all encouragement for mass marriage programmes under the scheme. But the temple authorities should take keen interest in it. There is also lack of response from couples,” he said.