‘Arundhati’ to empower women, discourage child marriages: Himanta
GUWAHATI: The first batch of beneficiaries under the Arundhati Gold Scheme, under which brides belonging economically weaker sections can avail cash for buying gold, will be effective from February 2020.
Announcing this before media persons here on Wednesday, Assam finance minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma said the scheme, aimed at empowering women and aligned with the state’s population and education policies, would be applicable only for those brides who are 18 years of age or above and marry on or after December 1, 2019 and register their marriages on or after January 1, 2020.
“Under the scheme, the government shall provide Rs 30,000 to the bride whose annual family income is less than Rs 5lakh, to buy 1 tola (11.66 grams) of gold. The scheme can be availed only after formal registration of the marriage under the Special Marriage (Assam) Rules, 1954, on or after January 1, 2020,” Sarma said.
Assam Cabinet had on Tuesday approved the scheme which was proposed in the state budget of the previous financial year.
Brides can only avail the scheme once after registering the marriage.
“The main objective of the scheme is to encourage couples to register their marriages and prevent child marriages, as the minimum age of the bride has to be 18 years at the time of marriage and that of the groom 21 years. More importantly, the registration gives the bride security and a ground to prove the marriage if it is required in the event of a marital break-up in future,” he said.
The minister further said that couples will have to provide their age certificates, which can be the HSLC pass certificate or admit card (SEBA or CBSE) to the sub-registrar of marriages.
“There is also an education criterion under which both the bride and groom have to be matriculates. This criterion however is not applicable to the tea garden areas, as of now, where there is a dearth of high schools,” Sarma said.
The minister said that according to preliminary assessment, the state government might have to bear a cost of Rs 800 crore per year.
“The price of gold varies every year and so we are taking the average value of gold, which is about Rs 30,000 this year. This amount may be increased commensurate with gold prices. The bride availing the scheme has to provide a receipt of gold purchase to the sub-registrar, which is necessary for us to keep track of the gold prices and fix the benefit amount accordingly,” he said.