98 couples tie knot in mass marriage ceremony

Kanpur: As many as 98 couples tied the knot in a mass marriage ceremony organised under the ‘Kanya Vivah Sahayata Yojana’ of the UP Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board, Lucknow, at the Government ITI ground on Thursday.The ceremony was inaugurated by chief guest and MP Ramesh Awasthi. MLA Neelima Katiyar, chief development officer Abhinav J Jain, additional labour commissioner Junaid Ahmad and several other dignitaries were also present on the occasion.Brides and grooms from Kanpur Nagar, Kanpur Dehat, Auraiya, Etawah, Farrukhabad and Kannauj districts participated in the programme. Among the newly married couples, two belonged to the Muslim community.The organisers had invited up to five family members and friends each from the bride’s and groom’s side to attend the function. Keeping in view the gathering of around 2,000 people, arrangements such as ambulances, medical teams, clean drinking water and temporary toilets were made at the venue.Additional labour commissioner, Pradeep Kumar Singh, said that under the Board’s scheme, financial assistance of Rs 85,000 per beneficiary would be directly transferred into the bank accounts of registered construction workers’ daughters for their marriage.Besides this, Rs 15,000 per couple is provided to organisers for conducting collective marriage ceremonies.