Planning to spend above Rs 5 lakh on marriage? Bill in Lok Sabha seeks cap on guests, menu – Here are the details

New Delhi: In a bid to keep a check on big fat weddings in India, a Bill in the Lok Sabha seeks to put a limit on the number of guests to be invited and dishes to be served in weddings.

The Bill, introduced by Congress MP Ranjeet Ranjan, the wife of MP Pappu Yadav, wants those spending more than Rs 5 lakh to contribute 10 percent of the amount on marriages of girls from poor families.

The Marriages (Compulsory Registration and Prevention of Wasteful Expenditure) Bill, 2016, may be taken up as a private member's Bill in the upcoming Lok Sabha session.

The purpose of this Bill is to prohibit extravagant and wasteful expenditure on marriages and to enforce simpler solemnisation, Ranjeet told PTI.

"Great importance should be assigned to the solemnisation of marriage between two individuals. But unfortunately, these days a tendency of celebrating marriages with pomp and show and spending lavishly growing in the country.”

"These days, marriages are more about showing off your wealth and as a result, poor families are under tremendous social pressure to spend more. This is needed to be checked as it is not good for society at large," she said.

The Bill seeks that "if any family intends to spend more than Rs 5 lakh towards expenditure on marriage, such family shall declare the amount proposed to be spent in advance to the appropriate government and contribute 10 percent of such amount to a welfare fund which shall be established by the appropriate government to assist the poor and Below Poverty Line families for the marriage of their daughters".

It says that after this proposed legislation comes into force, all marriages shall be registered within 60 days of the solemnisation.

The government may fix the limit of guests and relatives and number of dishes to be served to the guests and relatives for solemnisation of marriage or for the reception held thereafter as it may deem necessary or expedient to prevent the wastage of food items, it adds.

(With PTI inputs)