To ensure affordable, economic marriage palaces to the poor, scheduled castes and backward casts population living in rural heartland of Punjab, the State Government has launched a novel scheme to construct Mini Marriage Palaces in the rural areas across the State.
“Punjab would be the first State in the country where the Rural Development department would be constructing marriage palaces for the poor to fulfill their social obligations,” said the State Rural Development Minister Sikandar Singh Maluka on Wednesday.
Maluka said that Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has suggested this keeping in view unique social milieu of the state where 32 per cent population is scheduled castes, highest in the country.
“Rural Development has budgeted Rs70 lakh to Rstwo crore per marriage palace and land of the marriage palace would be given free of cost by the village. Rural population is facing problem as marriage palaces are mainly located in cities and are too expensive for them,” he said.
Giving details, Maluka said that these marriage palaces are being constructed keeping in view the requirement of rural population which are quite different form the urban population.
Minister said that the scheme to construct Mini Marriage Palaces in villages is unique in itself. “At the initial stage, a common marriage palace will be constructed for a group of adjoining villages for arranging various social functions and ceremonies. By the implementation of this scheme, the villagers, especially small farmers and Dalits, would be able to save heavy expenses being incurred in marriage palaces presently which are mostly in towns,” he said.
The Government has a vision to develop every village to a model village whose all the facilities of urban life be available for the villagers and constructions of marriage palaces in villages is a stop towards that purpose of which is not a business to earn any profit but to provide a facility the villagers in their own or nearby village, he said.