Daughter's wedding a knotty affair for Vijayapura man

Erappa Maadanashetti, a resident of Banjara Cross in the city, finds himself at his wit’s end. His daughter is set to get married on Wednesday, at a ceremony organised with a budget of Rs 1.5 lakh. But apart from the Rs 24,000 drawn from the account of his son at the State Bank of India branch, Erappa has no other cash.

The government has announced that drawing up to Rs 1.5 lakh is allowed for marriage ceremonies, but Erappa has not been able to get the money despite making several trips to his bank, the Karnataka Gramin Vikas Bank. They have not been able to draw additional cash from the account of his son at SBI either.

He told DH that the bank officials were blind to his plight, despite producing the wedding card as mandated. Officials are taking shelter under the argument that they had not yet received the Reserve Bank of India circular. Neither have they received any instruction from their head office. Visiting the head office too has not helped.

Preparations for the marriage - to be held at Sankha village in Sangli district of Maharashtra - have come to a grinding halt for want of money. A helpless Erappa approached friends and relatives for credit, but in vain. They offered to give him withdrawn currency notes, but they will be of little help in paying for the wedding expenses.

Erappa is keeping his fingers crossed in the hope that things will get sorted out by Tuesday, the eve of his daughter’s marriage.