As the year 2023 is nearing its end, a lot of changes have been witnessed in the country but one thing, unfortunately, remains constant in most rural areas. It is the status of the girl child, who even now is considered a burden, as from her birth, parents start worrying about her wedding because of dowry concerns. This is the reason why the girl child is not encouraged to go for higher education. Instead, the money is saved for her wedding.
IAS officer and DC, Nalbari, Assam, Ms. Varnali Deka, who is a proud mother and also a daughter, does not want any girl to feel she is a burden to her family. So, under her leadership, the district administration of Nalbari organized a ceremony where 10 couples got married today. The gesture was not limited to just making arrangements or bearing the expenses, but the administration became an integral part of the wedding as the ‘Maika’ for the brides.
Speaking to Indian Masterminds, Ms. Deka said that she wanted to spread the message that every girl is the daughter of the entire district and its administration.
HOW IT STARTED
Nalbari is one among the districts with very low gender ratio. It is covered under ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padhao’ mission of the PM. Ms. Deka, who was posted here few months back, did not have much exposure in working in this scheme. After she reached Nalbari, she wanted to do a multifaceted intervention around the scheme. While she was going through the guidelines of the programme, the idea of organizing a mass wedding clicked in her mind.
“We wanted to spread the message across and found this to be the best. When you participate in major personal events which are high points of someone’s life, you suddenly turn from a faceless to a more personal administration. What can be better than the administration being part of their biggest moment in life. With this, we want to tell them that they are very special,” Ms. Deka told Indian Masterminds.
SELECTION OF COUPLES
The step is also unique in the sense that mass weddings are not very common in Assam. All the 10 couples were already involved in the process of match making. After the tie-up with the district administration, the Women and Child Development department talked with the families and all of them agreed to be part of the mass wedding.
Keeping up with the #GoGreen motto, Nalbari District Administration is all set to organize a #GreenWedding named #SubhParinay tomorrow. Preparation is going on as shown-@CMOfficeAssam @himantabiswa @cmpatowary @jayanta_malla @varnalideka @diprassam pic.twitter.com/SsNI9MsI5T
— DC Nalbari (@nalbari_dc) November 22, 2023
SUPPORT FROM LOCALS
Once the decision was taken, the next question was how to get support as there was no fund allotted for such an event. However, the word spread quickly and many people came forward to help. Most of the arrangements were made through crowd funding. People volunteered to sponsor the couples, especially the needs of the brides. Akshay Patra Foundation arranged the catering for the event, while the Zila Parishad Chairman took care of the expenses of the rituals.
1/4 Today, Nalbari District Administration, in collaboration with the District Social Welfare Office, Nalbari, along with Sri Sri Hari Mandir, organized a mega community wedding, #ShubhaParinay, of ten blessed couples coming from different parts of the district.@CMOfficeAssam pic.twitter.com/ov7Y3mMZTC
— DC Nalbari (@nalbari_dc) November 23, 2023
“I have realized that the administration has so much power to do good. I was really worried how everything will be arranged but things fell into place and we managed a grand wedding,” said Ms. Deka, happy with the success of the event.
