Yogi govt to spend Rs 150 cr on marriages of OBC women

LUCKNOW:  The Yogi Adityanath government will spend Rs 150 crore to conduct the marriages of poor women belonging to other backward classes (OBCs).

A government spokesperson said that the government has issued instructions to all districts, stating that non-compliance with the prescribed rules will be treated as an irregularity.

He stated that the state government has been allocating funds and providing grants for the marriage of 'OBC' daughters.

The grant is provided by the state backward classes welfare department on applications submitted by any such family belonging to backward classes. So far, the state government has provided grants of Rs 771 crore to 3,85,514 beneficiaries under the Marriage Grant Scheme.

The order issued by the department states that officers must inform the government by the 10th of every month that the amount has been spent under this head. Also, the sanctioned amount will not be used for any other work under any circumstances and the remaining amount will have to be deposited in the treasury at the end of the financial year.

According to the terms and conditions set by the department, the annual income of the applicant should be Rs 56,460 in urban areas and Rs 46,080 in rural areas.

In the application, the age of the groom should be 21 years and the bride should be 18 years. Caste certificates must be attached. Under the scheme, the benefits of the marriage grant can be given to a maximum of two daughters from a family.

In addition, under the Mukhyamantri Samuhik Vivah Yojana, grants are provided by the social welfare department for the marriage of daughters belonging to financially weaker sections.

The social welfare department organises mass marriages and spends Rs 51,000 on each marriage. Earlier, this amount was Rs 35,000.

So far, over 2.25 lakh women have been married under this scheme.