The ‘Mukhyamantri Samoohik Vivaah Yojana’ operational since 2017-18 is aimed at making possible the wedding of women from impoverished families. Under the scheme, Rs 51,000 is given to the couple. Of this, Rs 35,000 goes to the woman’s bank account, Rs 10,000 is put towards gifts for the couple’s new life and Rs 6,000 is spent for the ceremony itself. Since the initiation of the scheme to 2022-23, over 2.7 lakh couples of different faith have been so married in the state. However, since January this year instances have come to light when women were captured garlanding themselves (as there were no grooms in Ballia) and where money was paid to people to ‘pose’ as brides and grooms (Sultanpur).
Uttar Pradesh’s Minister of state (independent charge) for Social Welfare, Asim Arun, spoke to THE WEEK about steps taken to ensure that such lapses are not repeated.
Edited excerpts from the interview:
Is there a problem in the way in which the scheme has been conceived?
The samuhik vivah scheme is a well-conceived scheme. However, like any other scheme, people try to misappropriate its benefits after a while.
What are the problems with beneficiary selection?
Currently, before the wedding, verification is done by block-level employees in rural areas and by the nagar palika employees in urban areas. The verification process falls outside the social welfare department and we depend on others. The department does not have the requisite manpower to carry out the verification on its own. Now we will randomly verify in detail, 10 per cent of the couples after the wedding.
What are the other measures being put in place?
There will be no more than 100 couples at any wedding. If there are more, then the district magistrate will have to be personally present to coordinate things. Also, each couple will get a digital certificate of the marriage. This should substantially improve things.
Is an over-emphasis on target causing these problems?
I have instructed districts not to chase targets, which can result in misappropriation. I have asked them to look at quality only. Where there have been misappropriations like Ballia, Sultanpur or elsewhere, swift action has been taken.