Udaipur : The state government’s decision barring marriage functions till May 31 has increased the woes of families that had planned wedding ceremonies of their children in the coming days. Meanwhile, the district administration is getting stricter on those people violating the COVID protocol regarding marriage functions. As per the latest directives, marriages have to be kept a very low key affair with only the bride and groom’s family members present in the ceremony .
On Friday ,Sarada Tehsildar imposed 1 lakh rupees penalty on a man for hosting bindoli procession having guests more than the permissible limit of 31 people.Similarly in Rajsamand’s Bhim village, a family had to pay one lakh rupees penalty for violating the wedding protocols. As the lock down guidelines are getting stricter, people are getting more worried as in many households weddings have been postponed many times due to the uncertainty of lockdown guidelines.
“We had given advance booking to caterers, music band group, marriage garden and the wedding was to be held next week. Though the goverment guidelines say the service providers have to return or adjust the money to the marriage party but practically it is very difficult to get back the sum. We dont even know if a reception on further dates would be possible as we have decided to get the wedding held in our home now”said Sunidhi Bhatnagar, a teacher. Meanwhile, christian families are confused as well as troubled with the new guidelines. ” As per the Christian faith, marriage is a sacrament which has to be performed in churches only and that too by authorized priests.
Not every priest is permitted to conduct weddings and hence court marriages are not acceptable as per the christian belief” says KI Thomas , secretary, Udaipur Christian Fellowship. Thomas said there are around three thousand members of the organisation in Udaipur alone while the number is more than two lakh in Rajasthan. ” We are writing to the chief minister to permit marriages in churches which would be held strictly as per the corona protocols with only 11 people participation. If marriages can be held at homes or court with the permissible number of guests, so should be allowed in churches too” he added.