Decision to form panel to collect data on inter-faith couples a political agenda: Congress

Congress on Wednesday said the Maharashtra governments decision to form a panel on issues of women in interfaith and intercaste marriages is a political agenda and a perfect example of how not to run a governmentThe state government has set up a committee to gather information on the interfaith and intercaste marriage couples and maternal families of women involved if they are estranged The panel head and state minister Mangal Prabhat Lodha said the move is aimed at avoiding a repeat of the Shraddha Walkar caseThis decision is part of a political agenda of the state government This amounted to putting a strain on the state administration at the cost of the taxpayers money to further a political agenda state Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant tweetedHe said then chief minister Devendra Fadnavis had announced on March 15 2017 that legislation will be enacted to protect those opting for intercaste marriages and incumbent minister Mangal Prabhat Lodha was part of that committeeWhat happened to that committee Will the present committee protect couples in interfaith and intercaste marriages or spy on them and prevent them from getting married All this should be made clear he saidAlso Read BMC had become private property we are now giving it back to people FadnavisSawant alleged the BJP was politicising the unfortunate death of Shradha Walkar who was in a livein relationship with her alleged killed Aaftab Poonawala but the present committee concerns only married couplesThe Congress spokesperson wondered whether the government had data on the number of intercaste and interfaith marriages taking place in Maharashtra and how many families need counsellingLodha says only women in intercaste and interfaith marriages face problems but it may happen to women who are in marriages of the same caste Isnt this decision a violation of the right to marry for adults he askedSawant said whether parents or the couples would be counselledThe state government provides grants to couples of intercaste marriages Isnt the new decision a violation of the previous decision This is the perfect example of how not to run a government he saidSawant said the Parliament had passed the Special Marriages Act in 1954 to encourage intercaste and interfaith marriages and even the Supreme Court has said such marriages be acceptedThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever