Ghaziabad: 156 weddings beneath Kanya Vivah scheme discovered to be faux, some women have been already married, some do not exist

An investigation on the orders of Lokayukta has unearthed a serious fraud the place a whole bunch of accused with the assistance of middlemen took away cash beneath the Mukhyamantri Kanya Vivaah Yojana (UP authorities’s mass marriage scheme) in Ghaziabad. In the investigation, round 156 marriages solemnized have been discovered to be faux. 

As per the investigation, these women have both been married a few years in the past, or they faked the wedding through the occasion. The investigation discovered that some accused received their daughters married twice or faked the 12 months of their marriage to siphon cash beneath the scheme. 

The probe discovered that some women had been married for 2 to 6 years, but they sat within the marriage ceremony corridor on the day of the mass marriage occasion with their husbands. The already-married {couples} acted as if their marriages have been to be solemnised afresh on that day.  

In some circumstances, the so-called to-be married couple received photographed within the mass marriage occasion and so they parted methods as soon as cash beneath the federal government scheme was credited into their account. 

In many circumstances, the middlemen lured laborers who had registered themselves with the Labour Department. They promised the laborers to offer Rs 10,000 to Rs 20,000 and in return they requested them to signal the wedding kinds availed beneath the federal government scheme. In lieu of cash, these laborers gave their essential paperwork like Aadhaar playing cards and images to those middlemen. These middlemen carried out all of the formalities like filling out the net software kinds for the wedding of the daughters of the labourers.

In cahoots with officers within the Labour Department, they received the functions permitted. 

As per the modus operandi, the middlemen requested anybody to sit down within the marriage ceremony corridor and fake to be a married couple throughout such an occasion in Ghaziabad, on November 24, 2022. Subsequently, they carried out different formalities beneath the scheme like photographing the faux marriage ceremony. Once it was accomplished, they acquired the sanctioned cash beneath the scheme, and the ‘bride’ and ‘groom’ parted methods. 

However, the nexus received uncovered when some labourers didn’t obtain the total quantity and so they raised complaints concerning the identical. 

The probe finds situations of forgery and fabrication as effectively

As reported by Dainik Bhaskar, Mahendra Singh who’s a resident of Nai Basti Harvanshnagar, received his three daughters married beneath this scheme and acquired Rs 2.25 lakh from the federal government. The investigation discovered that two daughters solely existed on paper and the date of delivery on the Aadhaar playing cards of his daughters solely confirmed an age hole of three to five months which isn’t attainable.

Dharam Singh, a labourer from Amrala village acquired cash from the federal government to get his daughter married beneath the scheme nevertheless Investigation revealed that the daughter had been married 5 years in the past. 

Similarly, Premvati, a local of Atrauli village took cash by displaying her daughter Nidhi’s marriage. However, the investigation discovered that she doesn’t have any daughter with this title. Interestingly, on the Aadhaar card, Premwati’s age is mirrored as 30 years whereas her daughter’s age is 27 years.

Timeline of investigation and related motion elsewhere

Afterward, on 16 March 2023, Pandit Gajendra Sharma, General Secretary of the National Organisation of Bharatiya Kisan Union (Kisan Shakti), despatched a criticism to Lokayukta Lucknow accusing fraud in marriages. 

Along with the criticism, he additionally submitted an inventory of 175 marriages which he claimed have been faux. Consequently, within the first week of April, the Lokayukta ordered an investigation and requested for an investigation report from DM Ghaziabad Rakesh Kumar Singh inside 15 days. The three-member committee, after conducting an extended investigation, submitted its report back to the DM.

On August 21, 2023, the DM despatched an 800-page investigation report back to the Deputy Commissioner, Lucknow. According to the report, 156 out of 175 complaints have been discovered real and these 156 marriages have been certainly discovered to be fraudulent, as per the investigation. Whereas, 2 complaints couldn’t be verified and three complaints have been incorrect. While the names of 14 laborers have been discovered to be double within the record of 175.

Subsequently, in May 2023, an FIR was filed at Sihani Gate police station in Ghaziabad in opposition to 7 women accusing them of conducting fraud in marriages. It was alleged that these women have been already married and to siphon cash from the federal government, they pretended to be married once more beneath mass marriage occasion. 

Notably, many related fraudulent or circumstances of forgery in marriages have additionally been caught in Bulandshahr. In some circumstances, cash has additionally been recovered from some laborers. Whereas, three individuals from the Labor Department have additionally been suspended. 

Earlier, related circumstances of fraud in marriages have been caught in Noida within the 12 months 2018.

UP govt’s Kanya Vivaah Yojana

Under the Yogi Adityanath authorities’s mass marriage scheme, labourers who’ve been registered with the labour division for a minimum of one year, can get monetary help of Rs 82000 for his or her daughter’s marriage.

Under the scheme, the state authorities organises mass marriages for daughters of registered labourers and gives monetary assist to the household. 

Rs 65000 are given for the wedding grant, Rs 10000 for the garments of the bride and groom, and Rs 7000 are given for different preparations. 

In Ghaziabad, one such mass marriage occasion passed off on 24 November 2022 through which marriages of just about three thousand {couples} from 3 districts have been solemnised.