ABOUT 50,000 marriages take place every year in the city. Against this just about 1,500 people get their marriage registered. That means just 3 out of 100 marriages are registered. And that’s a dismally low percentage!
Currently the Registrar’s office registers only the marriages under the Hindu Marriage Act. “Except those who get married without consent of their parents or those who have to go abroad, no one generally gets their marriage registered,” said RN Shukla, DIG, Registration.
And one of the eight officers who do marriage registration said: “Forget, rural or illiterate people, even most of the IAS, IPS, MLAs or MPs and the intelligentsia don’t have their marriage registered.”
However, they welcomed the Supreme Court’s move about making marriage registration compulsory, but in the same breath added that now there will have to be a massive staff induction or change in the set-up of office dealing with the marriage registration.
“Currently, it is the sub-registrars of each tehsil who do registration of properties doubling up as registrar for marriage registration. There are eight sub-registrars, of eight different zones, who do marriage registration of the marriages in falling under areas that are under their jurisdiction,” said RN Shukla.
A sub-registrar works as a registrar for a marriage when the marriage has been solemnised in his geographical area of jurisdiction or if the groom has his permanent address in that particular area.
{{/usCountry}}A sub-registrar works as a registrar for a marriage when the marriage has been solemnised in his geographical area of jurisdiction or if the groom has his permanent address in that particular area.
{{/usCountry}}“Currently, getting marriage registered is not at all a problem and it hardly takes any time once a couple is ready with the stipulated forms. The forms too are not complicated. It is essential to have an attestation by a gazetted officer along with the forms and two witnesses. We do not solemenise marriage, we simply register a marriage,” said Jagdambika Shukla, a marriage registrar.
While the Registrar office registers marriage under Hindu Marriage Act, other religion marriage or inter-religion marriages are registered by ADM (Marriages).
Marriages are registered at each and every tehsil.
Once the marriage registration becomes compulsory, there certainly will have to be a change in set-up of registration. Maybe, there will have to be a dedicated system and staff expansion as there will be a phenomenal hike in people going in for registrations. And initially the situation will be very chaotic as there will be almost infinite backdate marriage registrations than the recent ones, say the officers.