Community events like mass marriages put an effective control over social evils of child marriage and dowry, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said on Monday.
Adityanath made the observation while participating here in a mass marriage programme of 2,503 couples belonging to Gorakhpur, Maharajganj, Deoria and Kushinagar districts of eastern Uttar Pradesh.
"When a girl gets married in a mass marriage event, two things happen – firstly, the child marriage cannot take place and secondly, no one can take dowry,” said the chief minister.
“Such programmes have an effective check and control over evil practices of dowry and child marriage," he added.
Adityanath attributed the mass marriage event to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s philosophy of "Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas and Sabka Prayas (an inclusive growth with a cumulative effort and trust of one and all).”
The chief minister said it while also attacking previous governments and asserting that all sorts of discrimination have come to an end during the BJP rule in the state.
“Before 2017, the benefits (of various welfare schemes) could not reach the poor, labourers, farmers and youths but after 2017, you must have seen that the poor have been linked to the government schemes for toilets, housing, power connection, health and purchase of farmers produce," the chief minister said.
Referring to the mass marriage event, he said there is neither any “distinction of caste nor of creed, religion, region or language”.
Adityanath asked the leaders and officials present in the programme if anyone had ever thought of state ministers welcoming the marriage guests or peoples’ representatives or senior officials and even the CM himself attending such marriages and extending their greetings and blessings to the newly-wed couples. This is the strength of democracy taking which into account, Dr B R Ambedkar had framed the format of the Constitution giving equal rights to all, he said.
The chief minister also appreciated the efforts of the Labour Department and its minister Swami Prasad Maurya saying the parents who were worried about the funds for the marriage of their wards have been helped by the Uttar Pradesh government by organising it in such a grand manner.
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