By Asit Srivastava, IANS,
Lucknow : Simply put, they fix matches. They also organize mass weddings. Sounds like any old marriage bureau? Wait, they only arrange marriages for impoverished families, don’t charge a rupee and make sure
The groom doesn’t either.
A group of youths in Uttar Pradesh’s Hardoi district, some 110 km from Lucknow, is running an organisation that offers matrimonial services aimed at arranging dowry-free marriages of poor girls.
“Under the banner of our organisation, Chatra Yuva Yug Nirman Sangthan (CYYNS), we have so far fixed as many as 85 marriages that have been performed successfully,” Ajay Mishra, founder member of CYYNS, told IANS over phone from Hardoi.
“Primarily, our services are meant for poor families. We help them find suitable grooms for their daughters. The basic challenge lies in hunting for a groom, who is ready to go for marriage without taking any dowry,” he added.
CYYNS came into existence in Hardoi’s Sahjanpur village around 10 years ago, with the efforts of Mishra and some of his friends. At the time of inception, CYYNS used to focus on drug de-addiction programmes in schools and colleges.
Now CYYNS boasts of having its members in nearly 100 villages of Hardoi and its adjoining districts.
“It’s only due to the persistent efforts of my friends that our organisation’s membership grew. It’s with the help of these members that we got to know about suitable matches for poor girls,” said Mishra.
Shruti Yadav, a primary school teacher in the Behndar locality in Hardoi, said: “Before I got married through a proposal sent by Bhaiji (Ajay Mishra), my marriage was fixed twice but broke when my parents expressed their inability to meet the dowry demands.”
“I am grateful to him (Ajay), who brought a dowry-free marriage proposal for me at a time when my family members had virtually left the hope of my marriage,” added Yadav, 30, who got married this year to a bank employee.
Pramod Kashyap, who also got married through CYYNS, said: “Even though I made it clear that I would not take any dowry, I was not getting the girl of my choice.”
“I remember, within a month Girish Dixit, one of Ajayji associates approached me with a marriage proposal of a girl in the Sandi locality. The proposal was finalized and ultimately I got my type of girl,” said Kashyap, who owns a grocery store in Hardoi.
For matchmaking, CYYNS has also roped in a number of social organisations and activists.
“While some poor families that are aware about CYYNS services approach us directly, other families avail of the same during our publicity campaigns being organised on a regular basis in different villages,” Mishra added.
In consultation with government officials, CYYNS volunteers also keep preparing and updating the database containing information about poor families in villages.
“This also helps us come in contact with poor families. Our members working in various villages try to meet at least after four to six months in Hardoi, where we shortlist the girls eligible for marriage. Later, we approach the girl’s family and after their consent we launch the hunt for a suitable match.”
“On several occasions, we got a suitable match in the form of our own member who accepted the marriage proposal,” said Mishra, whose organisation also raises funds for holding mass marriages without dowry.
People from various walks of life, including teachers, doctors, researchers and others have joined the organisation against its dowry campaign.
(Asit Srivastava can be contacted at [email protected])