Wasteful expenditure and lavish spending in marriages and weddings prompted Congress lawmaker Ranjeet Ranjan to introduce a Bill which seeks to curb show of wealth during such ceremonies.

“We are six sisters and I can understand the pain of common people of the country who have no choice but to spend heavily on marriages in their families as it has become a norm in our society. In fact, they are in social pressure to spend out of their capacity during weddings,” said Ranjan while talking to the New Indian Express.

She said that through the Bill she wants to have some control or limit on the number of guests to be invited and dishes to be served in weddings to check the wastage of food and money. Speaking about the Bill she said, “If a family spends above Rs 5 lakh on a wedding, it has to contribute 10 per cent of the amount on marriages of girls from poor families. There can be a welfare fund which will be established by the appropriate government to assist the poor and Below Poverty Line families for the marriage of their daughters”

The Congress MP said that wasteful expenditure during weddings has become a common feature in cities across the country. “I have seen it in Bihar, Punjab and at other places that how people spend lavishly during weddings as if it is a competition. Leave alone other expenses, even the food items which get waste can feed hundreds and thousands of people,” said the Parliamentarian.

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. It has been approved by the cabinet and the President.

 She said that after this proposed legislation comes into force, all marriages shall be registered within 60 days of the solemnisation.

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

Ranjan said that rich people also append a lot on printing wedding cards which can be avoided. “It is a digital time. People should use digital invitation cards. It would save both paper and money,” she added.

The Lok Sabha MP said that the bill is for the benefit of common people. “There is no politics involved. I hope everybody will support this,” she added.

(The New Indian Express)