Jupally fulfils election promise
Wanaparthy: A grand foundation-laying ceremony was held for the Gopaldinne–Singotam Link Canal project at Sanganenipalli in Wanaparthy district on Saturday. The event was attended by Excise Minister and Kollapur MLA Jupally Krishna Rao, who performed the bhoomi pooja and officially launched the construction of the canal. An estimated Rs 120 crore will be spent on the construction of this link canal. Fulfilling a pre-election promise, Jupally initiated this project with a determination to provide irrigation water to the farmers. Through this canal project, the mandals of Chinnambavi and Veepanagandla are expected to turn lush and fertile.
He stated that this project, launched with the desire to bring joy to the eyes of farmers, will serve as a guiding model for future generations.
The event was attended by public representatives, current and former leaders, representatives of farmers' associations, local leaders, farmers, and villagers.
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Earlier, our expenses would run in Krupali's father says he felt compelled to introduce the resolution after witnessing families sell their land to pay for 'exorbitant' weddings. Batta says, 'As people became prosperous, they started spending more and more on weddings. Competition with other families within the community and outside drove many parents to sell their land to fund lavish weddings. A man I know sold his four-acre farm for Rs 28 lakh to pay for his son's marriage. Of the Rs 28 lakh, he spent Rs 25 lakh on the wedding.' Batta introduced the resolution soon after he was elected as the president of the Samaj on March 19. 'At first, it was difficult to convince the community to accept the resolution. So I held meetings with the community in every village. The resolution was finally passed unanimously on April 14,' he says. Calling pre-wedding shoots a 'menace', Batta says his community first heard of this concept nearly three years ago. 'Inspired by the pre-wedding shoots done by youth from other communities, our children started demanding the same. A pre-wedding shoot costs anywhere between Rs 50,000 and Rs 5 lakh. Instead of the traditional pithi, they would insist on a haldi ceremony and compel their entire family to wear yellow clothes for the ceremony, adding at least Rs 10,000-15,000 to the total expenses,' he says. Mavjibhai Ahir, the president of the Kotay Ahir Gram Samiti, says their community has prosperous families but nearly 30% of them cannot afford to pay for lavish weddings. 'Families would take loans and end up paying it off all their life. The resolution has also placed restrictions on ornaments that can be given during marriages. It allows families to spend on just three items — ram rami (a traditional necklace for the bride), a mangalsutra and one pair of earrings,' says Ahir. Having spent around Rs 8 lakh on the May 25 wedding of his fourth child, his 21-year-old son, in the village, he says he had spent over Rs 25 lakh on his daughter's wedding in 2022. The resolution has also affected couples who got engaged earlier. 'My brother got engaged last year. We had planned to spend Rs 25 lakh on the wedding. However, due to the resolution, we kept it simple. Even the bride's family did not insist on a lavish wedding,' says Bhavika Batta, 23, a resident of Kotay village who got married on May 25 alongside her brother. Sitting on a charpoy under a neem tree in her house in Nadapa village, around 25 km from Gujarat's Bhuj, 62-year-old Vejiben Kovadia's fingers move nimbly as she uses a green thread to secure a mirror on a red chaniya (flared skirt) for her daughter's trousseau. Kovadia, a former sarpanch, says the women had initiated a similar movement a few years ago to restrict expenses on weddings, but had faced resistance from the community elders. 'The current resolution is a welcome move. The money saved on lavish weddings should now be spent on our children's education, especially girls. Our children can now be sent to hostels for their higher education,' she says, as she continues to embroider the chaniya. Four weddings were solemnised in her village on May 25. Like Kotay village, the ones held in Nadapa village too had a community feast and the total expenses were split among the families. A Nadapa village-based groom says the resolution will help bring 'equality' in the community. 'Those who cannot afford lavish weddings will no longer be driven to take loans, leading to a financial crisis.'
