Row Over Pregnancy Tests On Brides Ahead Of Madhya Pradesh Mass Wedding

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan's mass wedding scheme for women from economically weaker sections has landed in controversy after some of the brides were made to take pregnancy tests. Five of the 219 girls did not get married on Saturday after their tests came positive. The matter has generated a huge political controversy as pregnancy tests are not supposed to be conducted on the women. The Congress has questioned who ordered the tests.

The mass wedding under the Mukhyamantri Kanya Vivah/Nikah Yojana was conducted in Gadsarai area of Dindori.

One of the women whose pregnancy test had come positive, said she had started living with her fiance before the wedding. "My pregnancy test came positive. Possibly due to this my name was dropped from the final list, although officials have given me no clear cut reason," she added.

"Never in the past has such tests been conducted," said Medani Marawi, the sarpanch of Bachchargaon village. "It is an insult to the girls, who now stand maligned before their families," he added.

The Chief Medical and Health Officer of Dindori, Dr Ramesh Marawi, said normally, tests are conducted for age verification, sickle cell anaemia and to ascertain physical fitness.

"Pregnancy tests were conducted at the behest of higher authorities on some girls whose cases were suspected," he said. "We only conduct tests and report the findings. The decision on excluding the girls from the mass marriage scheme is taken by the Social Justice Department based on health department reports," he added.

The Congress has alleged that the local administration and state government had insulted the women by conducting pregnancy tests.

A rough translation of a Hindi tweet by former Chief Minister Kamal Nath read: "I want to know from the Chief Minister whether this news is true? If this news is true, then on whose orders was this gross insult done to the daughters of Madhya Pradesh? Do the daughters of the poor and tribal communities have no dignity in the eyes of the Chief Minister? In the Shivraj government, Madhya Pradesh is already on top in the country in terms of misbehavior with women. I demand from the Chief Minister that a fair and high-level inquiry be conducted into the entire matter and the guilty should be punished severely. This is not only a matter of pregnancy test, but also of a malicious attitude towards the entire female race."

The Mukhyamantri Kanya Vivah/Nikah Yojana was launched in April 2006. Under the scheme, the state government provides Rs 56,000 as financial assistance for marriage of women from economically weaker sections.