Lucknow: Residents of Uttar Pradesh now no longer require written permission from local authorities for weddings, said the Yogi Adityanath government Thursday.
After a meeting with senior government officials at his official residence in Lucknow, the chief minister also said members of wedding music bands and DJs will not be included in the number of guests allowed to attend a marriage.
In an official statement, the CM said: “Couples do not require permission for marriage, but they must inform the authorities (verbally) and strictly adhere to the Covid-19 norms.”
According to guidelines issued earlier in the wake of the pandemic, written permission from the local administration or nearest police station was required for weddings.
On Monday, the government released fresh guidelines, limiting the number of guests attending weddings in the state to a maximum of 100. The guidelines, however, gave no clarity over whether music band members or DJs will be counted among the 100 guests.
“Wedding ceremonies can be organised with DJs and music bands, and these members will not be counted in the number of wedding guests,” the chief minister said Thursday.
This comes after several music band associations met state government officials in Lucknow Wednesday and expressed their concerns of police harassment in the wake of the guidelines issued Monday.
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No police harassment will be tolerated
The CM further said strict action will be taken if complaints of police harassment of music bands or marriage venue owners are received from anywhere in the state.
“Police should make people aware and encourage them to follow the guidelines and no kind of harassment will be tolerated in the name of following Covid safety protocols,” the CM said.
According to the guidelines issued Monday, if a marriage hall’s capacity is 100 or less, then the number of guests can only be 50 per cent of that figure. The guidelines stated that this is also applicable to other public gatherings.
They also said that an FIR will be registered against those found violating the guidelines and wedding organisers will have to mandatorily arrange for face masks, sanitisers and thermal scanners at the venue. Guests will also have to follow social distancing norms.
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