Punjab MP Introduces Bill In Lok Sabha To Avoid 'Wasteful Expenditure' In Weddings

The private member’s Bill called ‘Prevention of Wasteful Expenditure on Special Occasions Bill, 2020,’ was first introduced in January 2020 by Congress MP Jasbir Singh Gill. 

A new Bill was taken up in the Lok Sabha on Friday, which sought to put a cap on the expenditure during a wedding. This Bill included limiting the number of guests, the amount spent on food along with the amount spent on gifts for the newlyweds to avoid “wasteful expenditure”. The private member’s Bill called ‘Prevention of Wasteful Expenditure on Special Occasions Bill, 2020,’ was first introduced in January 2020 by Congress MP Jasbir Singh Gill. 

Gill stated that instead of extravagant gifts, donations should be made to the needy, orphans or non-governmental organisations (NGOs), according to The Indian Express report. 

Gill, an MP from Khadoor Sahib in Punjab, said that the Bill seeks to end the extravagant expenditure, which puts a lot of financial burden on the bride’s family. Gill explained that people have had to sell properties and plots and take up loans to pay for a lavish wedding. He said that this “could go a long way in checking female foeticide” since a girl child wouldn’t be seen as a burden anymore. 

He shared his own experience, which led to him introducing the Bill. He had attended a wedding in Phagwara in 2019, where he saw as many as 285 trays and saw that no one touched the food from at least 129 of those trays. "It had all gone to waste," he said. 

As per the Bill, only 100 guests should be invited from both sides of the family, and dishes served should not exceed 10, gifts for the newlyweds should not exceed Rs 2,500. Instead of extravagant gifts, donations should be made to the weaker sections of society or to NGOs.

The MP said he had implemented the same in his family, when his son and daughter were married off, there weren’t more than 30-40 guests, The Indian Express reported.

Although the chances of this MP Jasbir Gill’s Bill being passed in the Parliament is very low. This isn’t the first time a Bill has come up to cap lavish Indian weddings. In December 2017, BJP’s Gopal Chinayya Shetty, the Lok Sabha MP from Mumbai North introduced a Bill which sought to prevent and prohibit the extravagance of weddings and ceremonies in various parts of the country. 

Similarly, in February 2017, Congress MP Ranjeet Ranjan brought forth ‘The Marriages (Compulsory Registration and Prevention of Wasteful Expenditure) Bill, 2016’ to limit the guest list and dishes served at a wedding. The Bill stated that those spending over Rs 5 lakhs on a wedding should contribute 10 per cent of the amount towards the wedding of girls from poor families.