Kolkata: Though lockdown put a bar on big fat wedding ceremonies, it could not deter couples in Bengal from tying the knot as 5,752 registered marriages took place in the months of April and May.
A surge in the number of registered marriages was witnessed in the past 10 days since June 8 when the state government allowed attendance of 25 people for a marriage ceremony. As many as 3,819 registered marriages took place between June 8 and 18. The number was 1,835 in the first seven days of the month from June 1.
The lockdown was imposed on March 25. Without knowing how long it would continue, many couples had postponed their marriage dates as gatherings by breaking the physical-distancing norms were not allowed in order to check the spread of COVID-19.
But there was also a section who chose to go ahead to get married in simple ceremonies shunning their plan of hosting the big fat wedding with a gathering of 100 to 200 people if not more.
Though marriage registrations did not take place in the affected zones during the lockdown period, as many as 1,471 and 4,281 registrations took place in April and May respectively only in the areas under the Green zones.
Marriage registrations were undertaken following all the set norms of physical distancing and in the presence of a minimum number of people who were required for the rituals. During the marriage registration, three witnesses need to be present apart from the couple and the marriage officer.
According to a senior official of the Registrar General of Marriages under the state Law Department, there are around 1,500 marriage officers in the state and all were directed to follow the set norms even when they undertook registrations in the Green zones in the months of April and May. It is a must to put on masks apart from when they have to take a photograph along with the marriage registrar. The photograph acts as a crucial document for the registration of the marriage.
He further added that most of the registered marriages were under the Hindu Marriage Act and the Special Marriage Act. At the same time, 764 and 3,011 new applications have been received in April and May respectively for registration of marriage.
Bengal is the first state to introduce a large part of the facility of marriage registration under the Special Marriage Act and Hindu Marriage Act online from June 1, 2019. Online applications and generation of certificates have been made possible and introduction of the OTP-based mechanism has made it more secured. The certificates that are generated online are QR code embedded ones.