Couples from Bengali and Assamese speaking Hindu communities in Assam could get monetary incentives if a proposal by the state’s linguistic minority board is accepted by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government.
The Assam Linguistic Minority Development Board (ALMDB) submitted the proposal to chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal earlier this month and it could be included in the state’s annual budget to be presented next month.
“To strengthen ties of brotherhood between both communities and to take the state forward, the board has asked the government to provide couples of inter-community marriages with some cash incentive,” said Alok Kumar Ghosh, chairperson of ALMDB.
Ghosh said the amount, which is yet to be decided, would be given to couples from financially weak families in Assam in order to help them set up some small business.
“There are instances of families getting ruined because of such marriages due to opposition from family members. Our idea is to give them some support. Hopefully, it will be accepted and included in this year’s budget,” said Ghosh.
“It is for the government to decide the amount. If the couples are given around ₹30,000, they would be able to open a ‘paan’ shop or a small beauty parlour,” he said adding the scheme would not benefit non-Hindu Bengali speakers.
{{/usCountry}}“It is for the government to decide the amount. If the couples are given around ₹30,000, they would be able to open a ‘paan’ shop or a small beauty parlour,” he said adding the scheme would not benefit non-Hindu Bengali speakers.
{{/usCountry}}Last year, the Assam government had announced a cash incentive of ₹30,000, or the price of 10 gm of gold then, to brides from poor families in the annual budget.
The board has also asked the government to set up statues of Assamese literary doyen Lakshminath Bezbaruah and his Bengali wife Pragyasundari Devi, niece of Rabindranath Tagore, in 15 cities of the state to promote brotherhood among both communities.
A statue of Assamese cultural icon Bhupen Hazarika, who also sang many numbers in Bengali, at Siliguri in West Bengal, is also proposed.
According to the 2011 Census, there are more than 90 lakh Bengali speakers in Assam and according to some estimates, nearly 30% of them are Bengali speaking Hindus.
The All Assam Bengali Youth Students Federation welcomed the “very good suggestion”.
“If implemented, it will increase bonds between both communities. It will also be a relief to couples victimized due to such inter-community marriages,” the federation’s general secretary, Samrat Bhowal, said.
However, the All Assam Minority Students Union criticised the BJP government in the state for what it said was an “agenda to polarise” people.
“This is another attempt by the BJP government to divide people of Assam on communal lines. If such a proposal had been given purely on the economic condition of the couple, it would have been a welcome step,” the union’s president, Rejaul Karim Sarkar, said.
“This is a part of the BJP’s agenda to polarise Hindu votes by targeting Muslims in Assam ahead of the assembly polls next year. It would create more problems in the state,” he added.