Chauhan: ‘Helping the poor’

Bhopal, May 28: If Uma Bharti as chief minister was obsessed with a cow-based economy and her successor Babulal Gaur with turning Bhopal into Paris, Shivraj Singh Chauhan loves performing kanyadaan, blessing newly wed couples at mass marriages and doling out Rs 5,000 to each.

Under the aegis of the Deendayal Antoday scheme launched last month, the Madhya Pradesh chief minister has blessed 3,387 couples in 36 districts, which has cost the exchequer more than Rs 1.6 crore. Defending the expenditure, Chauhan said: “Helping the poor is the biggest service to God.”

He has a chest of Rs 5 crore for the scheme in the current financial year and is prepared to allocate more if the drive catches on.

Under the scheme, any non-government organisation, society or caste/sub-caste group can arrange a mass marriage programme with at least five couples tying the knot. The district authorities give the couples Rs 5,000 each, irrespective of their economic, caste and religious status. While in principle the marriage scheme is open to all sections of society, Muslims and Christian couples are yet to avail themselves of the offer.

But the Congress is sceptical about the scheme. “It is open to all instead of being restricted to people below the poverty line,” said Congress spokesman Manak Aggarwal.

He said there were several reports of officials arranging “remarriages” to mint money. “The modus operandi is simple. For instance, in Shajapur district, we have reports that on May 12, Rekha Bai Atedia, Tina Bai, Babita Bai and Bhuri Bai ? all residents of Amlawati village ? got married in the chief minister’s presence though they were already married.”

Madhya Pradesh minister for social justice and public health engineering Rampal Singh denied the allegation, saying the Congress was criticising the scheme only for the sake of opposing it. “They are being nit-picking and cannot appreciate our good work,” Singh said.

Taking a cue from the chief minister, his ministerial colleagues are busy attending mass marriages. The ministry for social justice has asked all district collectors to speed up mass marriages. A circular has been sent to all district headquarters to report figures of mass marriages to the chief minister’s office.

According to Singh, 424 mass marriages have been organised in Indore district while at least three have been held in Khargone district, a stronghold of the Congress.

The other districts which have held mass marriages in the last one month are Guna (361 marriages), Balaghat (249), Tikamgarh (239), Mandla (217), Dindori (207) and Seoni (152).