Odisha CM’s rolls out daughter wedding scheme with ‘kanyadaan’ at Tara Tarini temple

Berhampur: As many as 201 couples tied the knot at a mass marriage ceremony held at Tara Tarini temple in Ganjam district on Tuesday, where chief minister Mohan Charan Majhi formally rolled out the Mukhyamantri Kanya Bibaha Yojana by performing ‘kanyadaan’.The event was organised at the hilltop shrine, one of the country’s prominent Shakti Peethas, with marriages solemnised according to traditional Hindu rites. Priests chanted Vedic hymns for each couple as parents and relatives witnessed the ceremonies from the ‘mandap’.Under the state-sponsored scheme, the govt provides Rs 60,000 per marriage, including a Rs 35,000 fixed deposit in the bride’s name, a Rs 10,000 gift kit and Rs 15,000 towards wedding arrangements, aimed at supporting girls from economically weaker families.The chief minister, accompanied by deputy chief minister and women and child development minister Pravati Parida, commerce and transport minister Bibhuti Bhusan Jena, fisheries minister Gokulananda Mallick and other dignitaries, handed over marriage registration certificates and gift kits to the newly-wed couples.“Today, I am here not as the chief minister but as a parent and a brother to bless the couples and wish them a happy married life,” Majhi said. He added that the initiative was designed to reduce the financial burden of marriage on poor families while ensuring self-respect and dignity for women. The scheme, he added, goes beyond financial assistance and seeks to eradicate social evils such as dowry and child marriage, encourage widow remarriage and promote mandatory registration of marriages.Majhi said women’s protection and empowerment were among the govt’s core priorities, not just slogans. “Our daughters are excelling in every field. The rise of a woman from Odisha to the office of the President is a source of pride for the entire state,” he said, referring to President Droupadi Murmu.The chief minister noted that Rs 69 crore had been earmarked for the scheme in the state budget and thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman for allocating substantial funds for women and child welfare in the Union Budget 2026-27.