Against 100 cap, 800 couples married at govt’s mass wedding event

Lucknow: After several cases of violation were reported at a mass marriage programme organised in Moradabad in Dec 2025, the department of social welfare is tightening the screws to ensure that such illegalities are not committed again.A major violation that came to light in the Moradabad ceremony was that, against a cap of 100 on the number of couples being married at a single ceremony, around 850 couples got married that day.
Social welfare minister Asim Arum told TOI that after this case, 9 districts were identified where programmes with more than 100 couples were planned, and they were told strictly to cancel the event. "Having studied the mass marriage scheme, we realised that 100 couples, which means around 5,000 people at a ceremony, is the most that can be managed safely and for whom a decent programme can be organised. Therefore, we capped the number of couples at 100. In Moradabad, because 850 couples were married, there was utter confusion, and the 3-member investigation committee will specifically look into who issued permission for this programme," Arun said. The minister said that a detailed SOP was already in place for the organisation of marriage ceremonies under the mass marriage scheme, and letters were written to District Magistrates earlier to ensure that rules were followed. A command centre is also in place to coordinate between districts and the department, and instructions were given to organise these programmes at the block level. Arum added that another rule that was violated was the absence of observers at the Moradabad ceremony. It is mandatory for a block or district to invite an official of the social welfare department from a neighbouring district to act as Observer during ceremonies. The minister said that this would be implemented strictly now. As per the SOP issued by the department last year, 100 couples or fewer should be married at any location, unless it is under the presence of the DM. During the event, a registration counter will be set up where the eligibility of couples will be determined. The deputy director of the division and the district social welfare officer from a nearby district will be deputed at the event to oversee arrangements and submit a report to the department. "A provision is made in the SOP for random verification of 10% of the selected couples for the scheme. The checks are conducted by officers from the revenue or other departments under the guidance of the DM. A district-level committee will oversee the verification process, and the investigating officer will submit their report in a specified format on the department portal," an official said.