The State government has quietly put on hold Shaadi Bhagya, its controversial scheme to provide financial support for poor brides from the religious minorities. Initially meant as a scheme for Muslims, the government was forced to extend it to all minorities after the opposition alleged it was appeasing just one community.
The government is now in the process of formulating eligibility norms for brides from other minority communities.
A source in the minority welfare department told Express, “The government has issued verbal instructions to all its district officers to receive applications, but not process them.”
Christians, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis and Sikhs are also covered under the modified Shaadi Bhagya. The government will announce the changes only after former chief minister B S Yeddyurappa ends his agitation demanding that the programme be extended to poor people from all communities, and not just to religious minorities.
The ground reality is that not many are queuing up for the wedding grant. In Chitradurga, for example, officials have received just seven applications. A senior official in the Karnataka Minorities Development Corporation said the number of applications had not been collated yet.
“We have to ensure all eligible communities are fairly represented,” he said. “And trying to arrive at the numbers and ratios is going to be a challenge.”
Lottery Bhagya!
Only a minuscule percentage of poor brides will get the state government’s wedding grant. In an order on November 13, the government announced it was extending Shaadi Bhagya to cover Christians, Jain, Buddists, Sikh and Parsi girls, as also widows and divorcees.
In Chitradurga, only seven to nine Muslims will get the money, whereas their population is estimated at 2.15 lakh. Speaking to Express, community leader T Shafiulla wondered, “When even one per cent of our population is not getting Shaadi Bhagya, how does it amount to appeasing the minorities?” He urged the government to consider the financial backwardness of Muslims and increase the number of beneficiaries. “The Muslim population in Karnataka stands at about 64.63 lakh,” he said.
Bride Future
Subject to fulfilment of 13 conditions, the Shaadi Bhagya scheme grants either a cheque of `50,000 or household goods and `15,000 in cash for each bride from an economically backward minority family.