A decision to curb the increasing trend of lavish weddings among the Gujjar community was taken on Sunday when a mahapanchayat with Gujjar leaders from more than 70 villages was held. The mahapanchayat decided to put a ban on DJ’s, liquor and crackers, as people end up spending in lakhs on them.
The four hour-meeting took place at Tigra village on the outskirts of Gurgaon with almost all the major leaders of Gujjar communities from the NCR region.
As a part of the social reform initiative, the members of the mahapanchayat and elder people of Gujjar communities decided to minimise the use of band waalas and DJ’s, also putting a ban on the huge quantity of liquor served during such weddings.
The panchayat members also threw light to how a bride comes in a helicopter, 100 bands playing or fireworks costing more than Rs 10 lakh as a part of the dowry tradition in the villages.
The villagers also felt the loss and lack of education system among their community as the majority tends to spend all their savings in marriages and are left with no money to provide their children with education. “Our land was acquired by the government and we made crores of rupees. We lost the vocation we excelled in — farming. And our children neither studied nor did any other job as they had enough money to splurge. As a result, many of them in their thirties and forties are practically unemployed,” said Anant Ram Tanwar, president of Gujjar mahapanchayat, which recently imposed a strict code of conduct for marriage functions.
The leaders of as many as 70 villages of Haryana, Punjab, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan and social activists also issued an advisory for promoting the use of simple or no wedding invitation cards. It has been observed that this showmanship leads to a lot of fights and competition among the grooms’ family which in turn hampers the security and safety of women in these families.
“We will eventually bring it down to Re 1 for a wedding. And if anyone leaves his wife without a genuine problem, we will not allow that boy to marry again. Girls from poor families are being abandoned after marriage and the rich are splurging money in dowry. This will at least stop competition,” said Nathu Singh, sarpanch in Mohammadpur village in Gurgaon.