Amidst speculations on the impending Lok Sabha bill to cap big fat weddings and the Centre’s struggle towards a cashless society, Ahmadabad is set to organise the first cashless marriage of India this week. The convener of Sri Veermaya Vankar Samaj Sudharak Samiti ( a local group dedicated to public welfare), Mr Hasmukh Saxena sees it as a “revolutionary step, taken for the greater group”.
According to Sharma, lack of transparency is the major reason behind increasing corruption and crimes in India. It’s essential to maintain complete transparency to ensure a corruption-free society, which is possible only when the people go cashless. Ironically, weddings are attached to the social status of families in India. Consequently, most families end up spending an unreasonably large sum on wedding arrangements that could’ve been used for charitable purposes.
Therefore, their group came up with the unique concept of organising mass cashless marriages, in an attempt to support PM Narendra Modi’s call for digital India.
What’s Unique about the First Cashless Wedding in India?
We’ve seen plenty of mass weddings in past. However, the mass marriage at Bayad (Aravalli District) will involve no cash this time. All payments for purchasing decorations, wedding gifts, food etc will be made via cheque and digital wallets. Even caterers, priests and planners will be paid by RTGS.
The organisers have set up a special ‘Chanda Counter’ where the guests can submit their cash gifts to the bride and the groom via digital methods. They can also swipe cards through PoS machine, which is something unique that you won’t see anywhere else.
Planning a completely cashless event like this wasn’t easy. The biggest challenge was to convince the groom’s parents for the ‘Dapu’ ceremony. Dapu is a traditional custom in Gujarat, wherein the groom’s parents offer cash gift to the daughter-in-law. The people are accustomed to giving heavier amounts. The organisers had to struggle hard to limit these gifts between the 600-1500 limit.
However, the families finally gave in to the committee’s request, as it was for the progress of Indian society.
This initiative came as a blessing in disguise for non-technical folks, who were unfamiliar with digital transactions. Natabhai Chauhan, the father of Ramesh (one of the nine grooms participating in this mass wedding) shared his experience. Post-demonetisation, he was finding it hard to cope with cards and cashless transactions. However, when he learnt the basics of ATM card, it wasn’t hard for him to organise a cashless gift. He takes pride in being a part of this massive change.
By organising the first cashless mass marriage of India, Gujarat has not just set an example for other states to follow, but they’ve also addressed two major crises gripping Indian marriages– unreasonable wedding expenses and big, fat dowry/cash gifts exchanged between the families.
