CHENNAI: The State revenue department has ordered an immediate end to the practice of Village Administrative Officers (VAO) issuing 'first marriage certificates' (FMC) for conducting weddings in temples in Tamil Nadu.
Instead, people have been asked to obtain an unmarried certificate (UC) for availing of marriage-related services at temples and registration department offices by submitting a notary affidavit along with a self-declaration. The unmarried certificate will be issued by the respective tahsildars with a digital signature.
The 'first marriage certificate', which has never been an official revenue document, has been issued by VAOs for decades for conducting marriages at temples administered by the HR&CE and others. Each temple has a different format for the certificate. "We could not ascertain from when and where this practice of issuing FMC started. There are no standing orders for VAOs to issue such a certificate," said a revenue official.
Three years ago, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court declared that VAO's are not empowered to issue the certificate. "Recently it came to our notice that many VAOs still issue FMC for various reasons. It’s reiterated that VAOs should refrain from doing this," said a revenue department directive issued to district collectors last week.
An advisory was also sent to HR&CE temples by the revenue department not to insist on FMC. HR&CE sources said after cases of marriages involving minor children due to elopement reported from a few temples in Chennai and a few other places in the 1990s, some officials started demanding FMC for select marriages. "Later it becomes a norm for all marriages held in temples including those with parents’ consent," sources said.
UC a must to avail of pension
At present, unmarried certificates are issued to single women for availing pension under government scheme and to get preference in government jobs on compassionate grounds. The certificate is also required for conducting marriages at temples, for registration of marriage if the ceremony is held at a house or temple without authorisation from the temple administration, or when one of the partners is a divorcee or widow. The document is also needed for getting visas for select foreign countries.