Want to book community centre? No dowry, please!

Ramkrishan Upadhyay 

Tribune News Service 

Chandigarh, October 29

With a view to ending the social evil of dowry, the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation is considering making a “no dowry”  affidavit mandatory before allowing community centres for marriages. 

Confirming the move, Mayor Asha Jaswal said she was of the opinion that such a step would discourage people from seeking dowry.

She said she would soon hold a meeting of all councillors and invite suggestions for improving the functioning of the community centres.

The Mayor said despite the fact that Chandigarh was far ahead of other cities in terms of development and modern lifestyle, the social evil of dowry still existed. She said every year several cases of dowry were registered at police stations in the city.

She said besides providing basic amenities, the MC also had social responsibility. She said a large number of residents booked community centres for marriages. Under the proposal, a column would be added to the application form in which the applicant would have to give an undertaking that he or she would neither give nor accept dowry. The form would have to be signed by the applicant before seeking permission.  

Devinder Singh Babla,  Congress councillor and member of the committee for improvement of community centres, said it was a good move and a step towards women empowerment.

Mayor returns report on increasing rates 

Chandigarh: A day before the meeting of the general house of the Municipal Corporation, Mayor Asha Jaswal returned a report of a committee, which had recommended increasing the rate of community centres. Jaswal said she received the report on Sunday evening, which was incomplete. She said because of this, the agenda regarding the issue would not be tabled at the meeting on Monday. The MC committee had proposed a steep hike in the rates of community centres, which created a stir with BJP and opposition leaders slamming the move. The panel, headed by former Mayor Arun Sood, had recommended to divide the present 40 centres into four categories with booking charges — A (Rs 30,000), B (Rs 20,000), C (Rs 10,000) and D (Rs 5,000). Earlier, there used to be only two categories - AC (Rs 10,000) and non-AC (Rs 5,000).