It has become a trend to spend heavily on fancy boxes of wedding-invitation cards worth several thousands of rupees each which are practically of no use. Rather those getting such invitation-cards pull out a necessary portion of programme-details and start pressurising their minds about the utility of such apparently costly but useless remnants. Costly platters with imported items where Indian substitutes are better and cheaper and cash-envelopes from parents of brides have become a necessity in marriage-celebrations. Interestingly misusers of such trends in their elite gatherings themselves criticise such trend but want some others to take initiative to stop such a practice.
With the cost of silver sharply declining, invitations embossed on a simple silver plate can rather be a better substitute which can be preserved both as souvenir and saving-instrument. Such are the aspects where there is no role of government to intervene. Organisations like Rotary International, Lions International etc can definitely impose some code to stop the practice with their members mostly coming from the elite society are misuers (and victims also) of such trend.
Supreme Court directive on July 12, 2018, asking the central government to consider making it compulsory for families to disclose wedding expenditure by both sides of the families of bride and groom jointly to the marriage officer concerned should be implemented. It will not only limit wasteful expenditure at times due to social bindings on marriages but also effectively check unaccounted money being spent on marriage-related functions apart from lodging false claims made by bride-side in case of marital-disputes and divorces. Even a marriage-tax of say 10-per cent can be imposed in case expenses cross rupees five lakhs by one side as was suggested in a private-member bill introduced in Lok Sabha in February 2017. Large-scale wastage of food-items in marriage-celebrations should be prevented by re-introducing Guest Control Order 1960. Only soft drinks and beverages should be allowed to be served in such functions. Even Afghanistan took measures to curb such mega-expenses on marriage-celebrations.
The then Delhi Chief Minister Shiela Dixit pledged to boycott mega-budgeted functions. But otherwise, marriages in political families, in general, are an ugly show of wealth with leading politicians cutting across party-lines attending such lavish marriage-functions. Thus steps must be taken to curb lavish weddings.
– Subhash Chandra Agrawal
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
