Bhupen Goswami
GUWAHATI : The Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal said that marriage is an institution full of responsibilities and registration of marriage raises dignity of this institution besides safeguarding rights of the brides. The Chief Minister said this while ceremonially distributing financial assistance to beneficiaries under 'Arundhati Gold Scheme' at Srimanta Sankardeva Kalakshetra in Guwahati today. It may be mentioned that under this scheme, the State government provides financial assistance to the tune of Rs 40 thousand to newly married couples who have applied for the scheme. The beneficiaries are required to register their marriages under Special Marriage Act, 1954 before a competent authority apart from fulfilling educational and age related criterion.
As on today, altogether 1121 couples registered for the scheme out of which 587 were found eligible. The objective of the scheme is to facilitate the parents of the girl child who are economically not very sound, but like all other parents desire to give some gold which is considered auspicious to their daughters as gift at the time of marriage. Chief Minister Sonowal said that the State government has been implementing various innovative schemes with an aim to strengthen every section of the society. He said that social development would lead to individual growth and therefore the government is working to make the society free from superstition and all other social evils.
The Chief Minister said that the government is putting dedicated efforts to empower the individuals and the newly launched scheme is one of such endeavours. He also urged the society to make joint efforts for securing the rights of women and ensuring their security. He also urged the newlywed couples to register their marriages to uphold the dignity of the institution of marriage. Finance Minister Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma in his speech said that during last four years, the State government launched various schemes with a philosophy to address the problems faced by the society. He said that the government is working for universalization of benefits of government schemes to establish a society based on equality and justice. Further saying that registration of marriage promotes social security, Dr. Sarma opined that the new scheme would give an impetus to marriage registration. He also urged all the beneficiaries to act as ambassadors of the scheme to take the message of this initiative to every book and corner of the State.
Minister of State (i/c) for Revenue and Disaster Management Jogen Mohan also spoke on the occasion. While Additional Chief Secretary Jishnu Baruah delivered the welcome address, Minister of State (i/c) for Tea Tribes Welfare Sanjay Kishan, MLA Bolin Chetia, Chief Minister's Media Advisor Hrishikesh Goswami, senior government officials, around 100 newlywed couples from 30 districts of the State were present in the programme.