BANGALORE: The government would make it easy to register marriages in villages, but would not remove the clause of compulsory marriage registration for availing the benefits of Bhagyalakshmi Bond Scheme.
Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister T B Jayachandra told Opposition Leader in the Assembly Jagadish Shettar on Wednesday that the reason behind this is to give social security to women. There is no question of withdrawing the circular making registration of marriage mandatory to avail the scheme, he said.
Women and Child Welfare Minister Umashree said the government has earmarked `251 crore for the scheme in the 2014-15 budget and is committed to continue and strengthen it. K R Ramesh Kumar (Congress) said marriage registration should not come in the way of availing the scheme. BJP members, led by Shettar, contended that the government is trying to discontinue it by making marriage registration compulsory. The government should admit that lack of funds is one of the reasons for imposing such restrictions. This triggered chaos in the House. But they calmed down after Jayachandra announced that registration would not come in the way of distributing bonds to eligible families.
Amendment to Sakala Act
The Assembly on Wednesday unanimously passed the Karnataka Sakala Services (Amendment) Bill, 2014. Minister T B Jayachandra said the House that the amendment seeks to encourage people to file their applications online or through post. The government has signed a MoU with the Department of Posts to make this service available through all 700 post offices in the state. The amendment makes it mandatory for officials to deliver the services within the stipulated period failing which the penal fees would be deducted from their salaries.