By Sujit Chakraborty, IANS,
Udaipur (Tripura) : Thanks to a special drive, around 43 percent of the 60,776 couples in this Tripura town have now registered their marriage, creating a record of sorts.
The drive in south Tripura’s Udaipur sub-divisional town saw some old couples registering themselves 50 years after their marriage!
“This is a record of sorts,” Subrata Deb, chairperson of the Udaipur Nagar Panchayat, told IANS.
Considering the significance of marriage registration, the sub-divisional administration of Udaipur organised a 10-day long special camp last week to register the marriages without any penalty.
Inspired by officials, 70-year-old Abdul Matin and 65-year-old Rupiya Begum registered their marriage at the special camp – 50 years after their marriage.
“Thanks to women’s motivation, cutting across age, religion, caste and creed an unexpected number of couples reached the special camp to record their marriages,” said Mohammed Moslem Uddin, the sub-divisional magistrate.
A large number of politicians, including the state’s Science and Technology Minister Joygobinda Debroy, registered their marriages long years after their wedding.
The Supreme Court in February 2006 ruled that all marriages, irrespective of their religion, be compulsorily registered and directed the central and state governments to frame and notify rules for this within three months.
The apex court in its directive said that if any couple failed to register their marriage within 60 days from their wedding, they would be fined Rs.200.
“Despite the Supreme Court directive and formulation of laws, on an average less than 10 percent of the marriages were registered across the country,” Deb said.
“To provide domestic as well as social security to women and to get quick legal and property rights- related benefits, such marriage registration is very essential,” Deb said.